Your Word is Your Bond
by Eilonnwy
Summary: Merlin and Arthur are captured by bandits on a hunting trip, except unlike ordinary bandits, they know Merlin is a sorcerer.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Your Word is Your Bond

**Rating: **M

**Status: **WIP

**Characters: **Arthur and Merlin

**Pairings: **None, this is a genfic that keeps to canon

**Summary: **Merlin and Arthur are captured by bandits on a hunting trip, except unlike ordinary bandits, they know Merlin is a sorcerer.

**Warnings: **Violence

**Spoilers: **Takes place after series 2 and mentions events in past episodes.

**A/N: **Had this idea that wouldn't leave me alone. This is my first Merlin fic, and I do not have a beta. Hopefully I've caught all my mistakes, but please feel free to comment if you find any and I will correct them. Any reviews in general will be greatly appreciated. To those who may have me on author alert for my Avatar fic, I have not abandoned it for this one, I promise. :) I will update soon and hopefully you may enjoy this one if you are a fan of Merlin.

**Disclaimer: **Merlin is unfortunately not mine.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Sometimes Merlin really did wish Arthur would not drag him along on these hunting trips. On some occasions they would be fun, other times a little bit frightening, but more often than not, they were terribly boring as Merlin watched Arthur and his knights skulk around looking for any signs of the animal they sought.

This particular hunt was prompted by reports from a nearby village of a giant beast terrorizing the villagers and eating their livestock. King Uther immediately ordered a hunting party of a half dozen knights, lead by Arthur. It had been described as a beast twice the size of a normal wolf, with horns and enormous fangs. The king feared the beast may be magical in nature based on the reports, and wanted it taken care of immediately.

So there they were, traveling in the woods on a hot, summer day with no sign of the beast they hunted. The air was damp and buzzing with various insects; Merlin longed to be back at home in his bed. He hadn't been allowed much sleep, as he had been ordered to gather and prepare Arthur's hunting supplies late last night.

Merlin attempted to stifle a yawn as they rode on, but Arthur inevitably noticed. "Don't leave your mouth open like that, you look like a fish."

"Better than looking like you, I suppose," Merlin replied back with a grin and trying not to yawn again.

Arthur lightly slapped his shoulder in mock offense. "What on earth are you talking about? You only wish you could look like me."

Merlin laughed and shook his head.

Arthur simply smiled in return before looking serious once more. "So what do you think, Merlin? We've been at this for hours and there's not even a hint of a animal large enough to attack livestock."

"Maybe it left the area," Merlin suggested.

"Maybe." Arthur sighed, seeming to have come to a decision. "This hunt is useless" Arthur said loudly for the benefit of the knights behind him. "There's nothing here. Let's have a break and then head back to Camelot."

The knights nodded and murmured their agreement. Merlin was thankful to finally be off his horse. Almost a full day of riding left him a bit a sore.

He took the opportunity to relieve himself before digging through their supplies for some food to snack on. He pulled out some fresh apples along with aged cheese and bread baked fresh this morning.

Arthur was sitting on a nearby log, he took a sip of water before pouring some on his face to cool off. He wasn't wearing his heavy mail and armor today, regardless, the heat was still a bit overwhelming. Merlin, himself, only wore his red tunic, his favorite scarf and jacket being a little too warm for today.

Arthur's face was dripping wet when Merlin made his way over and sat down next to him. Merlin place a portion of bread, cheese, and fruit on a napkin next to Arthur before digging into his own share.

"No meat?" Arthur asked as he took a bite out of his bread.

"I didn't think we'd be gone so long," Merlin said once he finished chewing his bit of apple, juice dripping from his chin.

"No matter, if we hurry, we may make it back before nightfall."

"Do you think your father will be upset that we have not found the creature?"

Arthur shrugged and took another bite from his food. Sir Geoffrey sat down next to them, sipping his own water. "I don't know about you, Sire, but I wonder if this beast actually exists."

"The farmer was convincing enough," Arthur replied. "And we can't ignore the people if they need our help."

"True, though I was hoping for a little more excitement, a challenging ki-" Geoffrey did not have a chance to finish his words as an arrow shaft was now protruding from his throat and blood flowed freely from his nose and mouth.

"Ambush!" Arthur cried as he immediately jumped to his feet, reaching for his sword while the other knights did the same. Sir Edmund was the next to fall with an arrow in his chest.

Arrows whizzed by from all directions. Merlin tried to locate any of the archers, his mind racing as he attempted to think of a spell that would help them. He managed to stop an arrow from landing in Sir Hubert's back with a flash of his golden eyes, only to have another one slam into the knight's lung from the front. Merlin just couldn't find an opening, they were all well hidden in the forest, and they kept shooting a heavy barrage of arrows from all directions. The best Merlin could do was take cover by his horse and watch as each knight fell with their swords in their hands.

Merlin looked for Arthur, fearful he may have already been shot. He saw him on the other side of the camp, he was looking around frantically, trying to find an enemy to engage. However, the arrows were simply too much. He was forced to take cover behind a large oak before the barrage of arrows finally ceased.

"You are surrounded, my prince." A voice said from the trees beyond. "Surrender now!"

"Show yourself, you coward!" Arthur shook his sword in challenge. "Face me like a man!"

"I assure you, Prince Arthur, we have no intention to fight you."

"Then why did you slaughter my men?" Arthur demanded, his face tinged red with rage and frustration. Merlin knew Arthur hated to lose his men in battle and this disaster must be weighing heavily on his heart.

A large figure emerged from the trees, a smile on his face. He was a middle aged man, with a grizzled salt and pepper beard. He seemed rather muscular, though he wore plane clothing and no armor. He did have a sword by his side and a crossbow in his hands. "It was necessary."

Arthur emerged from behind the tree and pointed his sword directly at the man. "I will kill you for what you did!"

The man smiled and two arrows shot from the trees in response, one at Arthur's feet, and one at Merlin's. Merlin gasped in surprise and stepped back half a step.

"I would watch my mouth if I were you," the man said, "I could have you and your servant killed before you took two steps forward."

"And why don't you kill us?" Arthur spat back.

The man ignored Arthur and instead looked pointedly at Merlin. "Surrender now, or I'll kill your servant first."

Arthur hesitated a moment, glancing at Merlin before letting his sword drop to the ground. As soon as Arthur was defenseless, a group of men came from the trees and advanced on both of them.

Merlin backed away slowly as the men approached, but they were on him in seconds. They forced his arms behind his back, causing the warlock to yelp in pain. Merlin felt leather straps bite into his skin as they bound him securely. Merlin looked over at Arthur to see he was getting the same rough treatment.

_I can't let this happen_, Merlin thought desperately. He was supposed to protect Arthur, it was his destiny! He couldn't help the feeling that if he let Arthur get taken that they both would not make it out of this alive. With his hands tied behind his back, he tried to think of something. This might be the moment he would have to reveal himself to Arthur, but what choice did he have?

"Bring the servant here," the bearded man said, and Merlin's mind came to halt.

The men surrounding him grabbed him by the arms and dragged him forth as Arthur struggled with the men holding him down. "Leave him alone! I did what you asked!"

"Don't worry," The man replied, "Your manservant will not be killed."

Arthur continued to struggle as Merlin was forced to kneel down before the bearded man. Merlin felt his body shaking as he waited for the man to do something, anything.

A moment later he saw a figure coming from woods beyond. As it came closer, Merlin saw that it was a girl. She had long brown hair and wore a ragged brown dress. She was much younger than the men she accompanied, probably close in age to Merlin and Arthur.

It took a few seconds before Merlin realized she was carrying a metal ring. Slowly she approached until she was standing next to the bearded man. Silently she took the ring in her hand and opened. Merlin had no idea what the ring was for until she gently placed it around his neck.

"_Eac þes sigle ic ásælan þé_" she whispered, her bright blue eyes flashing gold as she spoke the words of magic.

Pain shot through his body as the magic settled in, ripping an anguished scream from his throat.

"Merlin!" Arthur cried. "What are you doing to him?"

Merlin barely heard his prince as his senses were overwhelmed. Everything seemed to go white, and his skin felt like it was on fire. When the pain finally subsided, something felt wrong. Something felt horribly wrong.

"What did you do to me?" Merlin gasped, his throat felt raw from the scream.

The man smiled and knelt down beside Merlin. He moved closer to the servant and whispered into his ear. "It takes extra measures to bind a sorcerer."

Merlin's eyes widened as he finally understood. They knew. They knew he had magic, and what was worse, they had just taken it away.

xxx

They travelled well into the night, though Merlin was barely aware. Their mysterious captives had proceeded to gag and blindfold Merlin and Arthur before hoisting them onto a couple of horses. Merlin felt a man sit behind him, holding him in place. He eventually realized, from the orders he barked out, that is was the bearded man. Merlin despised being so close to him, but the suppression of his powers left him lightheaded, and a distant pain thrummed in his neck from the collar.

Merlin fought through the haze of his exhaustion and the pain the collar caused to try and stay awake, but it wasn't long before the battle was lost. When they finally stopped, Merlin found himself wake with a start. He had no sense of where he was or what was going on. He wished he could see Arthur and make sure he was alright, but instead he was manhandled off the horse and led blindly.

After walking for a few minutes, the men took off his blindfold, gag, and wrist bindings. They allowed him to relieve himself before holding him by the wrists and leading him back to what seemed to be small settlement that must have existed for some time. There were quite a few tents and a smaller amount of freshly built wooden shacks. The place was buzzing with movement, and Merlin noticed some children playing by a small well.

He was forced into a shabby structure, made with wooden boards and straw for a roof. Inside he saw Arthur was already there, bound to one of the walls with iron chains. He noticed a couple other sets of chains attached to the walls, which led Merlin to believe this was some sort of makeshift prison.

Merlin was shoved down onto the ground and pulled back towards the wall opposite of Arthur. He didn't fight as they secured the manacles on his wrists. The chains were probably about three feet in length on each side, allowing for some room to move. Once he was securely in place, the men left, letting the door slam shut. Outside he heard keys jangle as a lock was also placed on the door. There was no source of light inside their dingy prison, however light filtered in through the cracks in the wall from the torches outside.

Merlin leaned his head against the wall, ready to let exhaustion claim him once more, but Arthur would not let him. "Merlin, you idiot! Wake up, now is not the time to sleep!"

"Sorry," Merlin said, surprised at how weak his voice sounded.

He forced his eyes open once more and looked over at Arthur. In the low light, his face was only shadows, but he could still see Arthur's scowl turn into a look of concern. "Merlin, are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"I'm alright," Merlin answer, avoiding Arthur's second question. "It just hurts a little."

"What did they do?" Arthur asked again.

Merlin felt his stomach drop as he considered, for just a moment, being honest with Arthur about his magic. Merlin pushed that thought from his head as he feigned ignorance, something he had become better and better at doing since he became Arthur's servant. "I don't know. It just hurts."

"I'm sorry. They're probably doing it to get to me," Arthur said.

"What do you think they want?"

Arthur was silent for a moment before answering. "They obviously want me alive, but to what end, I'm not sure. Could be a ransom, or to divulge any secrets of Camelot and my father."

"Will you tell them anything?" Merlin was glad to have the conversation move off him and on to Arthur. He also found it a bit soothing to distract his mind from the pain in the collar.

"Of course not! Don't be daft."

"Sorry, I didn't mean..." Merlin's voice trailed off. If these men wanted something from Arthur, and he would refuse, was Merlin dispensable? Was the only reason he was kept alive was to ensure Arthur's cooperation? Merlin's mind drifted to the Labyrinth of Gedref, when Arthur was willing to poison himself to save Merlin.

"It's alright, Merlin. We'll get out of this." Arthur paused. "Somehow."

Merlin tried to think of a response when a lock clicked outside and the door opened, the bearded man standing in the doorway. He had a small candle in his hand providing some illumination in the prison. "I see my men have made you both comfortable. I hope you find your accommodations to your liking."

"Who are you?" Arthur asked. Merlin could tell he was trying to control his voice and keep himself from yelling.

"My name is William," the man answered, a taunting smile on his face. "And I'm sure next you'll want to know where you are and why we have taken you. Let me save you the trouble. Where you are is not important, I can't very well tell you if we're to ransom you back to your father, I'm sure you understand."

"So that's why you killed my knights?" Merlin could sense Arthur's anger in his words.

"Well, they were in the way."

"And what have you done to my servant?"

William smiled, and Merlin felt his chest constrict with fear. "Well, the best way to fight magic is with magic, is it not?"

Merlin felt his blood run cold as William spoke. _He couldn't be saying this, not now. Arthur wouldn't understand, this wasn't the right time._

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh it's rather simple, I think you can put the pieces together," William replied as he looked pointedly at Merlin.

Merlin looked right back at him, his eyes pleading, _don't_.

"Merlin is not a sorcerer, don't be ridiculous," Arthur said in disbelief.

Merlin then felt Arthur's eyes on him, and he tried desperately to remain calm. He couldn't speak, afraid that anything he said would only make the situation worse.

"What reason would I have to lie to you about this?" William asked, feigning innocence.

"Oh I don't know," Arthur yelled back. "You killed my men, kidnapped us, you plan to ransom me back to my father. Why should I believe anything you say?"

"You don't believe me? You wound me, my prince," William said in mocking offence, then inclined his head towards Merlin. "Why don't you ask Merlin yourself? He has been rather silent right now, hasn't he?" William leaned down and placed the candle on the dirt floor. "I'll have some food brought to you shortly." He then turned and exited without another word.

As soon as the door was locked and it seemed William was no longer near the prison, Arthur turned his head to Merlin. "That man is ridiculous. He captures us and then accuses you of sorcery! What could he possibly be getting at?"

"I don't know." Merlin's voice was low and hollow, wondering if Arthur really was dismissing the claim.

"Well it's absurd, isn't it?"

Merlin flinched, hesitating for just a moment before responding. "Of course."

"Why did you flinch?" Arthur asked, his tone now more serious.

"I didn't flinch," Merlin replied, a little too quickly. Merlin grasped his head, the pain in the collar was building up again, and now he had a severe headache. He couldn't believe this was happening, he needed his wits about him, but whatever magic was binding, was also throwing everything about his mind and body into confusion.

"Merlin, is what he said true?" Arthur was looking at him, his eyes narrowed and face still. He was watching everything Merlin did, which further added to Merlin's discomfort.

Merlin had lived with Arthur for more than a year now. He had gotten used to finding ways to deceive the prince, but Arthur wasn't an idiot. Merlin always knew Arthur suspected something was a little different about him, but could never place it. Now, everything about Merlin felt so exposed, he feared those suspicions were falling into place. With the world feeling so confused and painful, he couldn't maintain his usual facade of feigning ignorance.

"Merlin, answer me!" Arthur was on the verge of yelling, which only made Merlin more nervous.

"I-" Words failed him, he remembered the time in Ealdor, when he almost exposed himself to Arthur, only to be saved by Will the next moment. He had wanted to tell Arthur then, hoping he would understand. Yet time and again, he saw that Arthur wasn't ready to know. He was torn, deeply, but he knew he had to continue the lie. "I'm not," Merlin finished weakly, knowing it probably wasn't enough anyway.

"You're lying to me."

"No, I-"

"You're lying to me, I can tell!" Arthur yelled, hand rising to his head in disbelief. "God, how could I be so stupid? All this time you were a sorcerer!"

Merlin closed his eyes, wishing this moment wasn't really happening. He always knew someday Arthur would find out, but not like this. He wouldn't understand, couldn't understand, not now. Regardless, they were in this mess together, he had to get through to Arthur, or at least try. "Arthur, I swear-"

"No!" Arthur cut him off again. "All this time I told you how evil sorcery was, how sorcerers couldn't be trusted, how they deceive you...but you! All this time you were a sorcerer, deceiving me, gaining my trust!"

"No," Merlin pleaded, "It wasn't like that."

"You weren't lying to me?"

"I didn't want to!" The fear and pain Merlin had been feeling suddenly turned to anger. "What would you expect me to do? Tell you I'm a sorcerer when your father is king? When you father would have me killed if he ever found out! I did what I had to do, what your father forces me and my kind to do every day!"

Arthur had nothing to say to that, and even refused to look at Merlin. The ground received his undivided intention.

Merlin took a deep breath, and continued in a calm voice. "I don't want to die, Arthur. Not for something I had no control over. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I couldn't. You're always saying magic is evil and the people who wield it, but I'm not. I swear to you, I'm not. I have always tried to use it for good, but I just couldn't tell you. I had no idea what you would do, I couldn't expect you to keep it from your father."

"You didn't trust me," Arthur said in a low voice, his eyes still focused on the ground.

"Arthur, I-"

"No." Arthur put his hand up to stop Merlin from speaking, the chains on his manacles clinking lightly from the movement. "I don't want to hear it. I've heard enough. I don't want you to ever speak to me again."

The words were like a dagger in Merlin's heart. Reluctantly he conceded to Arthur's request and remained silent, though the air was heavy with everything that remained unsaid. Now was the perfect time to sink into a restless sleep to avoid this awkward and painful situation, but his nerves wouldn't let him. His deepest secret had been revealed and now he had no idea what was in his future. Would they make it out of this place alive? And if they did, would Arthur let him live much longer after that?

The door was opened again only to reveal one of the nameless bandits that had captured them in the forest. He held two bowls of porridge and two small mugs of water. He placed the food next to them and then left without a word.

Merlin glanced at his food and then looked away in disgust. The pain from the collar and resulting headache had left him nauseous. He couldn't imagine trying to eat that without throwing up only moments later. Merlin pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them close, laying his head down on top. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was away from here. He wished fervently that he was back in his room, that Gaius was in his own chamber making stew for dinner and that Arthur was safe in his own room and was none the wiser about Merlin's magic. _Everything was fine, this wasn't real._

Merlin's heart clenched as realization came rushing back. He thought he might cry, but he forced himself to hold back. It wouldn't do for Arthur to hear him crying, especially with what had just happened. He had to be strong if he was ever going to make it out alive.

xxx

Merlin woke the next day, having eventually managed to fall into a fitful sleep last night. He was a bit sore from the rough ground and the discomfort the chains caused. Merlin spared a glance over at Arthur. He was awake, perhaps never having slept. His back was turned to Merlin, and it was then that he noticed a slight scratching noise. Apparently Arthur was trying to chip away at the wood to get the bolts out that attached the chains.

Merlin slowly lifted himself off the ground into a sitting position, still feeling a bit of a headache from the collar. He managed to reach for the cup of water he left untouched the night before and had a sip. It soothed his dry mouth, though swallowing was a little uncomfortable with the metal against his throat.

By now Arthur must have noticed that Merlin was awake but he said nothing as he continued to work on the bolt. Merlin felt his stomach sink as he realized Arthur was trying to escape and had no intention of letting Merlin in on it.

Suddenly, the sound of keys outside and the click of the door being unlocked caused Arthur to abandon his task and turn around, covering his work with his back.

William entered the room, a fresh set of mugs in his hands and a couple pieces of bread. He placed the food on the ground and walked over to Arthur. Before Arthur could even say anything he delivered a swift kick to his face. Arthur cried out in pain and fell to the ground, leaving his work in plain sight.

"Not bad," William said as he bent down to test the bolt. It was already a bit loose, a little more work and it would be free. "My men heard your scratching last night and took bets as to whether you'd break free before dawn. I have won three copper coins thanks to you."

Arther rubbed his cheek where William had kicked him. "Had to try, didn't I?"

"I suppose." William grabbed the chain near the bolt and ripped it out of the wooden plank with a strong yank. With the chain loop in hand he pulled Arthur to his feet and dragged him to the wall facing the door where another set of chains was bolted to a plank. He attached the new chains first before he removed the other ones. Once Arthur was secured again he brought the mug and plate of bread over to him. "Eat, and no more of this stupidity. You're in the heart of our village with guards posted everywhere, including this prison. Besides, you have no idea where you are and wouldn't last a day without food, water, and weapons."

Arthur said nothing and just watched as William now turned to Merlin and knelt by his side. "You never ate your supper, are you going to eat your breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry." The nausea from last night was still with him, and the thought of eat anything, even bread, was unsettling.

"Is it the collar?" William asked as he touched the metal lightly.

Merlin found the sudden concern for his well being a little disconcerting and he flinched at the contact, but nodded in response.

"Alright. The spell may be too strong, let's have it looked at." William took out his keys and removed the shackles. He then offered his hand to help lift him up. Merlin took it with hesitation and once he was on his feet he felt so dizzy that he nearly fell over. William held onto him and supported his weight.

Merlin kept his eyes straight ahead, refusing to look over at Arthur. William gently led him out of the shack; Merlin was barely aware of the guard locking the door behind him. They walked for a short while, passing a few tents and a shack on the way until they made it to rather larger building, which was a little bit more than just a shack. William opened the door and guided Merlin in. Once inside, he laid Merlin down on a small bed. It was nice laying on something soft after a night on the hard ground.

Merlin looked around and saw that it was a fairly sizable room with a couple tables and chairs with various odds and ends on them such as books, candles, and food. There where a few pelts on the wall and a door at the far end leading into another room.

"Margareta!" William called out as he poured a cup of water.

A few seconds later the young girl who had first place the collar on his neck came into the room from the door at the other end. She yawned slightly as she walked in, though when she noticed Merlin she put her hand down quickly. "What is he doing here?"

"The spell is too strong." William took a sip of water. "He can't eat or stand. Can you do something about it without removing the spell?"

Margareta hesited. "I-I can try."

"That's my girl." William smiled at the young girl, and Merlin wondered if this girl was his daughter. They certainly looked like they could be related.

Margareta walked over to the bed and sat lightly on the edge. Merlin felt William's hand on his shoulder as soon as she sat down. "Try anything, boy, and you will regret it."

Merlin nodded in understanding and stayed as still has he could while the young girl gently touched the collar.

"_álynian þes ágælan ac árænan sé hæft_"

Immediately as the words washed over him, he felt the hold the collar had on his magic loosen, though it was still just out of reach. At least the constant pain that he had felt went away. He still had a little headache and nausea, but that would probably leave him soon enough. "That's better, thank you."

Margareta looked sad for a moment before bowing her head, letting her bangs cover her face. "You're welcome."

"Margareta why don't you get some breakfast, I need to talk to Merlin."

Margareta nodded and hurried out of the room. Merlin was sad to see her go; he wanted to know more about her. She seemed like a shy but nice girl despite the spell she placed on him that took away his magic. He was certain William was forcing her to do it.

"She is my daughter, if you were wondering." William offered a cup of water to Merlin.

Merlin sat up and took the cup in hand, taking a few sips and saying nothing.

"A few of the people in this village are sorcerers." William pulled a chair over and sat down by the bed. "We have made a home here, hiding from Uther and his executioner's block."

Merlin frowned, feeling a bit angry at this revelation. "If you protect magic users, why did you reveal my secret to Arthur? How did you even know?"

William placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. He flinched away from it, but it remained anyway. "I had to." Merlin gave him a disbelieving look, and so William continued. "Many have suffered under King Uther's relentless war on magic, myself included. When I heard you were in Camelot, serving under Prince Arthur, I had to find a way to get you away from him."

Merlin eyes widened. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"I knew you, Merlin, as a child. I once lived in Ealdor as well. It was so long ago, I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"You knew my mother?" Merlin asked, barely able to take all this in. Was this kidnapping really about him and not Arthur? Why take Arthur at all, where they still trying to ransom him? His head was swimming with so many questions, it made him feel dizzy once more.

"I knew your mother and your father," William said before he adjusted the pillow and guided Merlin back down onto the bed. "You're sick, you must rest."

"You knew my father? Balinor?"

"Yes, we were friends when he came to our village in refuge."

"So that's how you knew I had magic."

It wasn't a question, but William answered anyway. "Yes."

"But what made you think I needed saving? Everything was fine until you told Arthur!" Anger was starting to rise once more in Merlin's throat.

"Merlin, I had to. You were too close to the King and his son. It was only a matter of time before you were put on the executioner's block. Uther would have found out eventually."

"So this whole thing was about me?" Merlin's voice was raising to a yell. "You killed good knights!"

"Shh." William put a hand on Merlin's chest, attempting to calm him down. "It couldn't be helped. That wasn't the only reason we attacked. I truly am going to ransom the prince. The opportunity to take you from Camelot and gain funds this village so desperately needs was too good to pass up."

Merlin put his hand to his head, feeling his headache coming back even worse. "This doesn't make sense. You say you saved me, but you have taken away my magic, bound me up like you've done Arther and told him about me being a sorcerer. Your actions conflict greatly with what you say."

"I know it seems that way," William said, "but Merlin, you are loyal to the prince. We know that. You would try to save him if you could, escape back to Camelot with him. We can't let you do that. You have to know that Arthur truly doesn't care for you, not now that he knows. You are better off here where your magic is accepted and you can practice it freely. I had to reveal your magic to Arthur so I could break the hold he has over you."

"Arthur does not have a hold over me, he is my friend!"

"A true friend wouldn't hate you for being a sorcerer. You can't hide it from me, I heard the argument last night. He wouldn't speak to you, he wants nothing to do with you now and he tried to escape without informing you."

Merlin did not respond; he had nothing he could say to that. He felt hurt and anger in the pit of his stomach. He always knew Arthur would have trouble with his magic if he ever found out, but the realization that Arthur now hated him was too much to bear. He felt betrayed and discarded at the same time. "You want me to stay here with you," Merlin eventually said, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Yes," William answered eagerly. "Once Arthur is gone and you've accepted your place here, we will remove the collar and you will be free to live with us and practice your magic."

Arthur. Gone. Free. The words filled his head and he couldn't help but revel in the idea of being able to practice his magic, to not have to hide and live in fear that one day Uther may find out. It was a wonderful thought, but then suddenly he remembered words of the Great Dragon.

"_Your 'gift', Merlin, was given to you for a reason. Arthur is the once and future king who will unite the land of Albion...Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion."_

Merlin closed his eyes. The destruction the dragon had done to Camelot was devastating, but despite the dragon's desire for revenge, he knew the words he had spoken when they first met were true. It was his destiny to protect Arthur. Arthur would forgive him, he knew it. He simply had to.

"No," Merlin said, his voice resolute. "I will not leave Arthur, so you may as well send me back with him."

"Merlin, don't be stupid-"

"No, I will not stay!" Merlin raised his voice in determination. "Arthur is my friend and he will get past this, I know he will. It's my destiny to protect him, and I will not stop now."

"He will tell Uther and have you killed! And what then of your Destiny?" William stood up so suddenly that he knocked his chair over. "Don't be a fool, Merlin."

Merlin glared back at William. "As long as Arthur lives, I will never abandon him."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

William leaned over and grabbed Merlin painfully by the hair. Merlin yelped in pain and grasped the man's arm, trying to get free. "Did you honestly think we intended to give Arthur back to Uther alive?"

Merlin's eyes widened as he gasped in pain. "What?"

"We will get a ransom from Uther, that much is true, but what he takes home will be in a coffin. Uther has taken too much from every one of us here to let his son go safely back."

"You can't! Arthur hasn't done anything to you!"

"This isn't about what he has done, but what his father has done and what Arthur will do when he his king!"

"You can't know that he will be like Uther!"

"It doesn't matter! I told you, boy, everyone here has paid the price for Uther's war. Everyone has had to hide or lost a loved one due to his hatred of magic. My wife-" William hesitated, clearly overwhelmed by emotion. "My wife was eight months pregnant when they took her, burned her at the stake. They took her and our unborn child. It was not long before they suspected Margareta and we had to flee. This is what Uther has done, and what he will do to you if Arthur ever tells him. Do you understand now?"

Merlin could do nothing but gasp in pain as William shook him angrily, still holding him by the hair. "Please stop!" Merlin thought his hair might rip from his scalp the way William was yanking it so hard.

William hesitated and then let Merlin go. Merlin rubbed his scalp gingerly trying to massage away the burning feeling. William turned his back to him, head in his hand.

"I apologize, Merlin, I did not mean to hurt you."

Merlin said nothing.

"Do you at least understand now? What we're doing, why we must do it?"

"I understand," Merlin said slowly. "But I don't agree."

William just shook his head, and that's when Merlin saw it, his opportunity. He felt stronger now that the collar's spell had been weakened, and he was not bound at the moment. He knew he'd never escape, but if he could just make it to the prison, he could warn Arthur of their plans. Maybe Arthur could figure something out if he knew what he was dealing with. Merlin knew Arthur was resourceful, and he had to do anything, anything at all to try and save Arthur, no matter what Arthur thought of him now.

Plan set, he just needed a little distraction. "I-I think I could eat right now."

William looked up. "Are you sure?"

Merlin nodded, and watched carefully as William went over to a table in the far right corner and picked out some fruit. When Merlin was sure he wasn't looking, he bolted off the bed as fast as possible, aiming for the door that he knew was unlocked. William immediately reacted, the plate of fruit crashed on the floor as he jumped over the bed to catch Merlin.

He only had precious seconds to outrun the larger man and when he went for the door he pushed, realizing in that agonizing second that he had to pull. He pulled as hard as he could, but it was too late. William grabbed Merlin, wrapping his arms around his waist as he pulled him back. Merlin kicked, screamed, and flailed, but he was no match for the larger, muscular man. Merlin was thrown onto the floor; he hit the ground hard.

Merlin tried desperately to get back up and make it past the man, but William was ready for him this time. He grabbed Merlin by the arm and yanked it roughly behind him before grabbing the other arm and doing the same. Pain shot through both his shoulders as he was pinned in place and then pulled to the center beam of the small house.

Merlin barely struggled as he was forced into a sitting position and tied to the beam. He had wasted all his energy in that one attempt, he knew if he tried again he might possibly faint. Merlin silently cursed his uselessness. Without his magic he had no way of fighting these men. He was at their mercy, and so was Arthur.

However, Merlin knew this man wanted Merlin to stay with him willingly. Maybe that was the only bargaining chip he had left. "Why do you want me to stay here so badly?" Merlin asked as William tightened the ropes around him.

"You're like us." William secured the final knots in place then looked at Merlin. "I had hoped you would join us. We need more people like you so that one day we may end Uther's reign."

_Ahh, that was it._ He was building an army and he wanted magic users. Merlin could only hope that his desire to end Uther's reign was greater than his desire for revenge.

"I will stay," Merlin said, and William cocked an eyebrow in response. "I will stay, and I will do anything you ask if you just ransom Arthur off alive."

William was silent for a moment, considering the offer. He seemed be studying Merlin, valuing the worth of having a willing warlock over a defiant one for the price of a prince. "Do you swear to it?"

"I swear, on my mother's life, I will do anything you ask if you let Arthur live." Merlin swallowed, letting the gravity of his words sink in. He was giving away his freedom for Arthur's life, but he knew it was the right thing to do. They both had to live if there was any way of fulfilling his destiny.

"Alright then," William said, seeming to have considered Merlin's words and judging them honorable. "I swear, on my daughter's life, I will ransom Arthur alive for your compliance. You word is your bond, and so is mine."

Merlin nodded, a sense of relief overwhelming him. He hoped it was true, that this man would stick to his word. It was all Merlin had and it had to be enough.

"Though, until such time you will remain in here," William said as he stood up, leaving Merlin on the floor, bound to the beam.

"But once he is gone?" Merlin could not help but ask.

"You will be allowed to walk freely in the village, your collar removed," William answered.

Merlin nodded in response while silently hoping that this man's word really was his bond.

TBC.

* * *

**A/N**: I read somewhere that the words used for magic was based on Old English so I used an Old English translator to roughly translates what Margareta is doing into Old English. I figured it's close enough. Anyway, as I said, no beta, so please forgive any mistakes. I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to know what you thought.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Special thanks to archaeologist_d for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Arthur's wrist hurt terribly from the shackles rubbing constantly against his skin. He had spent all last night picking, chipping, and pulling at the wood and bolts that kept him chained in this dingy prison only to have his escape attempt fail horribly. He knew it was useless to try again.

Arthur held his knees up to his chest, trying to steady the iron shackles between them so they wouldn't rub painfully against his raw skin.

It had been an hour since William had taken Merlin away. He had managed to eat the stale bread William provided, though his stomach ached from lack of a proper meal. Arthur certainly was not used to such scarce amounts of food. His experience with the food shortage from killing that unicorn was plenty enough for one lifetime as far as Arthur was concerned.

In addition to his physical discomfort, Arthur was at war with himself. The revelation that Merlin was a sorcerer felt like the worst possible betrayal.

All his life he was raised to believe magic was wrong; it twisted and corrupted people into evil, manipulative criminals. He had witnessed some of the evil for himself. Everything he knew about magic seemed to only confirm what his father had taught him since birth.

Then there was Merlin, his idiotic servant. He knew there was something off about him ever since they met, but despite his amazing moments of stupidity, they had become friends. He cared for Merlin more than he would care to admit, and yet all this time he was a sorcerer. He was the one thing Arthur simply could not overlook.

How often had Merlin used his magic and Arthur was none the wiser? How many times had Arthur managed to get out of difficult situations due to his own abilities and not magic? He knew Merlin must have used his magic to help him, there were too many weird situations suddenly falling into place. How he had never noticed before was beyond him; then again, he had scoffed at the notion when Aredian the Witchfinder accused his servant of Merlin using magic.

Arthur hit his head against the back board in disbelief as he remembered when Merlin had even admitted to using magic when Guinevere had been accused. The signs were so blatantly obvious now that he knew they were there.

Knowing that Merlin probably helped him in the past didn't change the truth. He was a sorcerer, and had been close not only to him, but to the king. If his father was right, it would only be a matter a time before magic corrupted him.

The door opened, and Arthur jerked slightly. He had been so lost in thought he never noticed anyone was there unlocking the door. A thin man with light brown hair entered holding a wooden bucket. He tossed it on the floor next to Arthur. "William suggested you might need one of these."

Arthur ignored the bucket and looked at the man, studying his face. He was an ordinary looking man, though something was familiar about him. It took a few seconds before realization set in. "You're the farmer that came to Camelot and reported that beast."

The man laughed. "Indeed, I am."

Arthur sighed and leaned back against the wall once more. "It was a set up all along."

"Figured it out, have we?"

"There was never a beast terrorizing your village," Arthur added, cursing himself for not realizing it sooner.

"Oh there is, but you call him father."

Despite his new found anger at the revelation, Arthur chuckled softly before responding. "When I'm free, I'll make you pay for that one."

The men let out a short laugh. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" He then shook his head and moved towards the door, not waiting for Arthur to respond.

Arthur didn't really care to respond anyway. He knew his situation was rather desperate, and as long as these bandits had all the control, he was at their mercy. Ransom trade or not, he had no guarantee he would leave this prison alive. He had heard of too many deals such as this ending in death, sometimes for everyone involved.

Arthur put his hands to his face, fighting off a headache that was forming behind his eyes, likely from lack of sleep. He tried to consider his options, thinking of any possible way for him to escape. Unfortunately his captives had been smart, keeping him blindfolded till he reached the prison. He had no idea what his surroundings were like, how many people were there, or even what direction to travel in if he managed to escape this place. Then add to the fact that he had no weapons and no sleep. He was a right mess.

Eventually, Arthur fell into a restless sleep. His dreams were troubling, though he could not remember them when he finally woke.

The room was dim, barely any light making it through the cracks. It must have been dusk. He could barely make out a figure lighting some torches near his prison.

Arthur realized he was still alone; William had never brought Merlin back. His stomach inexplicably dropped with worry, but he pushed the feeling aside. He wasn't supposed to care about the fate of a sorcerer.

Arthur eyed the piece of bread still left where Merlin had been chained. Obviously Merlin was not going to be returned to the prison, so there was no reason to waste whatever little food was there. He needed his strength.

It was too far for him to reach it with his arms, chained as they were. However, if he reached with his legs he figured he might be able to nudge the plate over. Arthur placed himself as far as the chains would let him and crouched down. He reached carefully out with his leg, his toe barely touching the plate. After attempts and nudging it closer, he managed to push it towards himself.

The bread inevitably toppled off the plate after a couple more nudges, so Arthur simply kicked it towards himself. Arthur brushed off the dirt as best he could and took a bite. He thought his first piece was really stale, but this was almost as hard as a rock from being left out for so long. Regardless, he managed to chew on it and put something in his stomach that eased his hunger pangs a little.

Now he was thirsty, his own cup having been drained in the morning. Arthur eyed Merlin's cup and began the maneuver once more, only this time he was more careful. He couldn't afford to spill the contents. After trying for a few minutes he managed to get the cup close enough to grab it with his hands and drank it immediately.

He was still thirsty, but at least his throat didn't feel unbearably dry.

No longer able to resist the call of nature, Arthur grabbed the bucket he had been given and placed it upright. He relieved himself then pushed it as far away as he could to avoid smelling it, but still leaving it within reach.

Not long after, Arthur heard the door unlocking once more. William entered with another cup of water and a bowl of that disgusting porridge that he had forced himself to eat the night previously.

William briefly glanced at the extra plate and cup that was now by his side, and let out a small chuckle. "I see you have no problem taking from your servant."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "He has been gone all day; I don't think you'll be bringing him back here." Arthur forced himself not to ask where he was; he wasn't supposed to care.

"No, we have given Merlin other accommodations." William placed the food and water by Arthur and collected the empty plates and mugs. "He is no longer your problem."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at that.

William didn't look at Arthur, but answered the question that hung in the air anyway. "He has agreed to stay here, with people of his own kind."

Arthur refused to admit to himself that the revelation stung. Instead he decided to further take it as evidence that Merlin could not be trusted. Why else would Merlin decide to stay with men that had imprisoned Arthur and killed his knights? As far as Arthur was concerned, the decision to live with these people was enough to show he was complicit in the plot against him and his father.

"And what of me? You mentioned ransom."

"Indeed," William answered. "We have sent someone to your father with your sword and horse as proof. A deal will be struck soon enough, and you will be returned to your father at that time."

There was no indication of how long it would take, and Arthur suspected it was so he could not gauge how far he was from Camelot itself.

"Will I be returning to my father alive?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

William smiled. "My prince, I am nothing if not a man of honor." William then turned and left with the plates he had gathered.

Arthur was confused at the response, but could only assume he meant the ransom to be an honest one. Maybe he would get out of this alive after all.

xxx

Merlin was no longer tied to the center beam of the small house. Instead a small bed had been brought in and one of his wrists was chained to the bed post. He was allowed some freedom to move around, but the chain kept him from reaching most of the house, and certainly from going outside.

He was thankful, at least, to be placed by the window so he could look outside. He spent most of the day simply watching people as they bustled about doing their chores or their children playing in the afternoon sun. He was thankful to have this distraction. He didn't have to think about the situation he was in or the fact that he may never get to see Arthur again to try to explain. Nor did he have to think of the fact that from now on Arthur would probably hate him. The latter one hurt the most.

"Are you hungry?" A young female voice asked from behind him.

Merlin turned to see Margareta standing just out of reach of the chain with a bowl in her hand. Her long hair was pulled back into a loose fitting bun and she wore a plain but lovely blue dress. "My father said you might be able to eat now." Her voice was a little shaky, obviously nervous at having to talk to a man she had helped imprison.

Merlin nodded. "Yes, thank you." He made sure not to move, he didn't want to scare her away.

Margareta let out a faint smile and hesitantly placed the bowl, apparently filled with stew, on the nearby table. "It's mostly got vegetables, but there are a few bits of chicken."

"Thank you," Merlin said again as he reached for the bowl.

Margareta turned and left. He had wished she would stay, but he couldn't expect her to simply watch him eat.

Merlin tasted the stew, it was a bit lacking as far as ingredients, but he suspected it was likely far better than porridge he never did actually eat. Merlin was surprised that he managed to completely finish his stew. Apparently the nausea he had experienced earlier was finally gone. In fact, he ate the stew faster than expected; he must have been hungrier than he realized.

Once he was done, he placed the bowl back on the table and returned to his window gazing.

Margareta returned a few minutes later and took the bowl away, He was slightly shocked when she came back a third time, a book in her hand.

"I-I know it m-must be boring here," Margareta said, a note of hesitation in her voice. "B-But I thought you m-might like to read."

Merlin smiled at her and nodded. Margareta took the cue to pass the book over to him. He looked it over with genuine curiosity, noting that it was rather old. He opened it up to see that it was in fact a history book. More than that, it was a history about sorcerers.

Merlin looked up at the young lady. "Thank you." He sincerely meant it.

"It was my mother's," Margareta said. "My father saved some of her books. Some have spells, but this one is just a history."

Merlin frowned. "William told me...what happened. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Margareta seemed to really appreciate the condolence and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry about the..." Margareta vaguely pointed at the collar. "My father..."

"It's okay," Merlin said, not needing to hear the rest. "I understand why you did it, and I'm not angry with you."

Margareta smiled. "Thank you. We really are good people. I know it may be hard to see...but..."

Merlin had nothing to say to that and couldn't help but pull on his chain slightly. His wrist was sore from the heavy manacle.

Margareta looked at the chain and frowned. "We don't have much. We can't build a more permanent home, and we can't farm many animals or grow our own food. We have to hunt and gather, though most of our food comes from trade from other villages. We've been lucky enough to stay here as long as we have and build a few sturdy homes. Yet, there is only so much we have to trade. If we don't do something now, we may not make it through the winter. That's why we must ransom your prince. You understand, don't you?"

Merlin simply nodded. He doubted she knew of William's initial plan to kill Arthur and decided he didn't want to burden her with that revelation. He wasn't supposed to do it now anyway, so there was no need to slander her father, especially when she was being so kind to him. He didn't want to lose the chance of making a friend in this place that was now supposed to be his home.

Silence hung in the air for moment before Margareta spoke again. "When this whole nasty business of the ransom is done, and my father frees you...maybe...I would love to show you the spell books."

Merlin looked at her with surprise. "Really? That would be nice."

"There are a few spells, well, they're kind of difficult. Maybe you could help me with them?" Margareta said, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I would love to," Merlin asked, though he remembered something William had said to him before. "But aren't there other sorcerers here?"

"Yes, but none of them are as naturally gifted as me."

"What do you mean?"

"They had to learn...I...I could always just do things." Margareta looked down on the floor, clearly a little uncomfortable with the subject. Merlin wondered if she was remembering something unpleasant.

He recalled his own natural gift with magic and how confusing and scary it was when he first realized what was happening. "I could just do things too, no spell book needed."

Margareta looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, I could stop time or move things just by thinking it." Merlin found it nice that he could talk to her about the shared experience of just learning you have magic. So many times he wanted to let Morgana know about his own magic to comfort her when she was learning about hers, but she was too close to the king. He simply could not risk it. "What could you do?"

"I could touch things and make them glow by thinking about it," Margareta admitted a little shyly.

"Anything?"

"Anything." Margareta took the book in Merlin's hand and looked at it intently. With a flash of golden eyes the book began to brighten until it glowed, the light slightly hurt Merlin's eyes. Margareta let it glow for a few moments more before another flash of golden eyes made the light recede and then she handed the book back to him. "I used to go out at night and make the flowers glow, it was so pretty."

"That's a wonderful gift," Merlin said, genuinely amazed.

Margareta smiled. "It is useful too, if I'm ever stuck in the dark. No candle needed!"

Merlin laughed, suddenly struck by how grateful he was to have someone like Margareta here. Now that they were talking openly, she didn't seem so shy or hesitant. Maybe this arrangement wouldn't be so bad after all? He though briefly about how wonderful it felt to share his magic with Freya, and while he didn't feel attracted to Margareta they way he did Freya, she was a nice person and he certainly wanted to get to know her.

"Margareta, thank you for talking to me," Merlin said.

Margareta smiled. "It's nice to talk to other magic users. Unfortunately, I must be getting back to my chores."

Merlin nodded. "I understand."

"I hope you enjoy the book," Margareta said, and then her eyes lit up as she realized something. "Oh, and please feel free to call me Maggie, almost everyone else does."

"Alright then, Maggie," Merlin said, then waved the book in air. "Thanks again for the book."

"You're welcome," Margareta replied with a nod before heading back outside.

Merlin watched her go, wishing she could stay longer. It was nice talking to someone, even if it was the girl who put the cursed collar on him. He knew, without a doubt, that she was a good person and only had good intentions. He also knew that it was her father who was to blame for his imprisonment, though he resolved not to share his feelings about Margareta's father directly with her. He didn't want to ruin the potential friendship, especially not when he already felt so alone.

_People can't control who their father's are_. Merlin told himself that almost all the time whenever he thought about Arthur and King Uther's relationship, especially any time Uther had a sorcerer executed or declared them all entirely evil.

Merlin frowned. He didn't want to be thinking about Arthur again. All it did was cause him more heart wrenching pain. Merlin forced the thoughts aside and began leafing through the book Margareta had given him, thankful for another distraction.

xxx

Arthur had been imprisoned for about a week, as far as he could tell. He was always given two meals each day, bread in the morning and porridge at night. Sometimes he would be given a little bit of cheese with his bread, but nothing that ever filled his stomach. He was getting used to the constant pang of hunger and dry tickle in his throat from lack of sufficient water.

When he started to develop a cough they brought him more water and even gave him some sort of potion. He wanted to refuse it, but wasn't keen on being punished for disobeying. He was surprised when it actually did help.

They kept giving him more water daily after that, but the hunger was still there.

In all the time he was there, Arthur was never taken outside the prison. Without anything to distract him, he found himself sleeping a lot. When he was asleep, he didn't feel his hunger.

When he was asleep, he didn't have to think.

Arthur longed for a full meal at his father's table, a soft bed and plump pillows to rest on, or better yet just a simple bath! His skin itched with the feel of dirt he could not wash off, and the oil build up in his hair. Arthur knew he probably smelled no better than a filthy peasant.

During the week, his wrists hurt so badly from the manacles that he had ripped some strips of fabric from his shirt and wrapped them around as best he could. The mock bandages eased his pain a little, but it still hurt. He hoped that at least they wouldn't chafe so badly and that maybe they might start to heal.

On the eighth day, at the time when he was supposed to be brought his breakfast, three men came in the prison including William.

"Today's the day, my prince." William waved a set of keys in the air. "Don't do anything stupid."

Arthur simply frowned at the man, though inwardly he was almost relieved. This ordeal of sitting in prison day after day would be over, though he had no way of knowing if he would survive the day. Arthur clung to hope, and fleetingly wished he would be back in his warm bed by nightfall.

The two men held Arthur down as William removed the manacles. Once his wrists were free they pulled his arms roughly behind his back and began binding his hands with leather straps. Arthur couldn't help grunting in pain as the bonds were tightened around his sore wrists.

One of the bandits proceeded to tie a gag around his mouth before he was finally lifted off the ground and forced outside.

Arthur blinked, his eyes watering in pain from the brightness of the sun. He hadn't been outside in week, and Arthur reveled in the fresh air not tainted by the smell of a chamber pot.

Arthur was led through the small camping area, or maybe it was a village? There were many tents, but a few shacks. People were going about their business, and then as they noticed the prince, they would stop everything to watch as he was escorted past.

Arthur tried to ignore the stares and instead glanced at the largest structure in the settlement, wondering if it was William's home, given his apparent leader status. The building looked to have two rooms and a few windows, which lent itself to being more of a house than a simple shack.

Arthur's eyes widened as he noticed a figure in one of those windows looking directly at him. He immediately realized it wasn't one of the villagers. It was Merlin.

Arthur was struck by how sad his manservant looked as he watched them pass by. Suddenly Merlin's hand was pressed against the glass as if he desperately wanted to come out and talk to him.

In a fleeting moment, Arthur wanted to go to him and talk to him, too. But then he remembered the lie Merlin had hid from him for so long and the sorcery that was in him. The sorcery that Arthur knew meant Merlin could never be trusted.

Arthur looked away. He had made his decision while he waited for eight agonizing and lonely days in that prison. Merlin was dead to him; he wanted nothing more to do with the lying sorcerer from now on.

Despite his resolve, Merlin's pleading face was burned into his mind and it wasn't until he was no longer near the structure that he realized there had been a manacle on Merlin's hand. It struck Arthur as extremely odd, but the thought was forced from his mind as they had reached the edge of the village and he was being forced onto one of three horses.

As was done when he was first captured, Arthur was placed on a horse with a man behind him keeping him steady and guiding the horse into a trot. The four of them pressed on into the forest along a faint path, and Arthur was suddenly struck by another uncomfortable fact.

They had not bothered to blindfold him.

A few hours of harsh riding passed before they finally came to a stop near a small glade. Sun peaked through the small opening in the trees, and Arthur noticed some birds fluttering about in branches above.

All the men dismounted and Arthur was helped off the horse last. He felt his veins turned to ice as he hit the ground, anxious at the exchange that was to take place, which was only made worse by his weakened state from lack of food and water. Arthur couldn't help but feel he was missing something important.

Arthur looked over at William; his face was expressionless as he readied a bolt into his crossbow. The two other bandits did the same.

Arthur's could feel his heart beat heavily at the uncertainty of being ransomed back alive. They had not blind folded him, had they? And this was after being so careful when he was first captured.

"Alright, men, let's do this."

Arthur felt one of the men grab his upper arm as he was dragged nearer to the glade. Once in place, William looked up through the trees. The sun was high in the sky, indicating noon.

As if on cue, Arthur saw some men arriving on horses at the other side of the glade. He immediately noticed one of them was his father, and his heart skipped a beat with both relief and fear. A fear which was multiplied when he noticed all three crossbows held by the bandits were now pointing directly at him.

King Uther was accompanied by only two knights, whom he recognized as Sir Alric and Sir Conrad. Arthur had to wonder if it was part of their arrangement. He couldn't imagine his father approaching criminals such as William and his bandits with less than a dozen knights. He suspected there must be more knights farther back.

Once the men dismounted, Uther looked directly at his son, and Arthur could see the relief in his eyes at seeing him alive. Arthur could also sense the rage his father must be feeling at having his son bound and gagged with a weapons pointed at him.

"I have your ransom," Uther said as Sir Alric lifted up a huge sack from his horse and showed it to the bandits. He opened it and put his hand in, grabbing a handful of gold coins and letting them fall back into the sack. "It's all in there, every last coin."

Arthur couldn't help but notice his father's voice was rigid and forced. It was obvious to Arthur he was doing everything in his power to restrain himself.

William met King Uther's eyes before speaking. "Your knight will bring it forward, unarmed, and leave it here. Once he has returned to your side, Arthur will walk slowly over."

"How do I know you won't kill my son when you have the money in hand?"

"You have my word, but more than that, you have to trust that we want to make our escape," William said with his typical smarmy smile. "We will have our bows trained on him as we leave. If you make one wrong move, we will shoot him. If you run up to him before he has reached your side of the glade, we will shoot him. If he runs to you rather than walks, we will shoot him." William looked at Arthur briefly as he relayed this rule, and then turned his focus back to King Uther. "No doubt you saw what we did to your knights, and you will believe me when I say we have very good aim, even while moving."

"I believe you," Uther said slowly. "I will comply with your demands." Uther then nodded to the knight holding the sack full of coins.

Sir Alric immediately did as he was ordered. He placed the sack on the ground before he removed his sword from his belt, placing it carefully on the ground as well. He picked up the sack once more and began walking slowly towards the bandits.

Arthur could feel his heart beating heavily as Sir Alric moved closer. This was the moment of truth, and despite all the bravado he ever put forth, he knew this was a dangerous situation. He knew the extreme likelihood that this would not go as planned.

Once Sir Alric was a few paces from the bandits he tossed the sack at William's feet and then retreated back to where Sir Conrad and King Uther waited. As soon as he was back with them, William nodded to one of his fellow bandits who proceeded to take the bag. He investigated the contents briefly before nodding back at William.

"Well, King Uther, it seems we have what we came for." He turned to Arthur, crossbow still dangerously pointed at Arthur's heart. "You will wait until I am on my horse and then you will walk slowly towards your father. Do not run and do not look back. Clear?"

Arthur nodded.

The two other bandits proceeded to mount their horses, one of them securing the sack to the back of the saddle. When they were both seated with their crossbows trained on Arthur once more, William mounted his horse, but he did so backwards. The men then focused his crossbow once more on Arthur as one of his companions grabbed the reigns to guide William's horse while he rode it the wrong way.

"You may begin walking."

Arthur did not hesitate to obey, and began to walk towards his father. With every step he took, he feared an arrow would end up in his back. He heard horses moving behind him, but he dared not look back. He believed William's threat completely, having experienced first-hand how deadly his aim and that of his men were.

After each torturous step, Arthur finally reached his father and he could no longer hear the horses in the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief, hardly believing that he actually made it out of this alive.

"Unbind him!" Uther declared, and Sir Conrad proceeded to slice the leather bindings off as Sir Alric removed the gag.

Free from his bonds, Uther immediately grabbed his son and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I thought I had lost you." Arthur could feel the emotion in his words, emotion his father so rarely ever shared.

Arthur wanted to simply sink into his father arms, but unwelcome thoughts flashed through his mind. _They never blindfolded you. Merlin and his chained hand. _

Realization hit Arthur so suddenly; he barely thought he could breathe.

These men were master marksmen. These men were masters of stealth and hiding. These men were manipulators. _These men had no intention of letting him live. _

Arthur heard a barely perceptible rustle in the trees as he reacted on instinct and pulled himself from his father's arms. He was about to scream his warning, but he only had a second to react and he was a second too late.

Pain exploded in his back, ripping a cry of pain from his throat.

"Arthur!" His father cried out as he held his son, supporting him as he fell to the grown. "Alric, get the others! Conrad, find the marksman, bring him to me alive!"

Arthur barely heard the words as the pain overwhelmed his body. He should have seen this coming, he should have known. In the back of his mind he feared for his father, but there were no other arrows coming from the trees. There was only just the one.

He knew in his gut that it wasn't about killing them both, but rather Uther watching his son die.

"Arthur, look at me!" Uther demanded as he held his son close. "You're going to be alright, I need you to hold on."

Arthur vaguely felt himself nod through all the pain, his thoughts increasingly losing their focus.

He looked down at his chest and noticed the arrowhead peaking out through his upper right shoulder.

"Gaius is with the other knights, he will be here soon." Uther pulled Arthur close, clinging to his son desperately as he waited for the other knights and his court physician to arrive.

Arthur was barely aware of the time passing; he just knew eventually he was being moved. He felt himself being propped up, hands on his shoulders, torso, and arm. He wanted them to stop it; they made the pain so much worse. Yet when he tried to speak, only moans came out.

"Shh, Sire," a familiar voice said. "This must be done."

Gaius. He knew the voice was Gaius's. _When did he get here?_ Arthur could not tell.

Suddenly he heard a snap, follow by intense pain in his upper back. Arthur barely noticed as he let out a loud cry of pain.

"Now, we need to pull the arrow forward"

Arthur had no time to even understand what Gaius was saying before pain exploded in his chest, and then he knew nothing.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed previous chapter, and look forward to any feedback for this one. I hope I won't keep you waiting too long for chapter 3. :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: No beta for this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Merlin was treated fairly well throughout the week, despite being chained in William's home. After the first conversation with Margareta, she visited him often. Sometimes she brought an extra bit of food or something new to read, while other times they would just sit and talk.

Usually they talked about magic, though sometimes they would discuss the village, and one time she brought out one of her spell books so they could look it over together. Merlin couldn't help but notice a couple of spells he would love to try once he was free from the binding collar.

The prospect of living with other magic users and being able to use his magic openly without fear was enticing. Yet, as the week trudged on, his thoughts turned to the important people in his life. He had already left his own village and made a new life in Camelot. He missed his mother often, and he did not want to start over again leaving behind people he cared about. He still regarded Arthur as a friend, and he wasn't ready to leave his side, no matter what the prince must think of him now.

Then there was also Gwen. She had also become an important part of his life; she was so warm and caring. Ever since Morgana had been taken by Morgause, Gwen seemed lonely and purposeless. He could only imagine what pain their disappearance was also causing her.

Lastly there was Gaius, the man who had somehow become much like a father to him. He knew when Arthur was finally returned to Camelot without him that it would devastate the old man. Gauis would never know why, and that thought caused pangs of regret in Merlin's gut.

Merlin pushed those thoughts from his mind as he waited alone in the small cabin for his breakfast. He would have to accept his new life and hope maybe one day they would understand, and maybe one day he would be able to return.

Merlin had grown so accustomed to Margareta's visits, as she was normally the one who brought him his meals. Therefore, he was a little surprised when one of the bandits brought him a plate of bread and cheese for breakfast. Merlin took the food without a word and the man quickly left.

Leaving the food untouched, Merlin turned his attention to the window. Something had to be going on, and his suspicions were correct. People, who were bustling about doing their morning work, suddenly stopped as they watched a group of men approaching. It only took a few seconds before he recognized one of the men was Arthur being escorted roughly by William and two other bandits.

Merlin couldn't help but stare at his prince, he had never seen him look so weak and dirty. His hair hung in oily clumps around his face, and his clothes were dirty and sweat stained. He was bound and gagged, and clearly weak from malnutrition.

Arthur was looking around, taking in the sight of the village and its people. It didn't take long before he was looking at Merlin's window and their eyes met. Merlin quickly put his hand up to the window pane, wishing he could somehow talk to him through the glass and the distance. He wanted to explain everything, but more importantly he just wanted to see his prince smiling and laughing once more, telling him he was the worst servant in the world.

Arthur abruptly looked away, and Merlin felt as if it was a final nail in the coffin. Arthur hated him now, that much was clear.

Merlin sat back down on the bed, refusing to look out the window again. He had given everything to protect Arthur and Arthur hated him. He wanted to be angry at the arrogant prince, but instead all he could feel was a deep sadness.

Merlin stared at his plate of food, leaving iit untouched. Whatever appetite he had earlier was now completely gone. All he could do now was cling to the hope that William would keep his word.

About an hour after Merlin saw Arthur being hauled through the village, Margareta entered the cabin. She smiled at Merlin, but when Merlin didn't smile in return, she frowned.

"Are you alright?" Margareta asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. She then noticed the plate of food. "You haven't eaten your breakfast."

"I'll be alright," Merlin replied with a low voice. "I saw your father with Arthur. The ransom swap is today, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Margareta nodded slightly. "I had to go cast some spells to obscure the horse tracks. The ride is a few hours long, they'll be back by dusk if everything goes well."

Merlin said nothing, letting Margareta's words hang in the air.

Margareta must have sensed his unease. "Everything will go well." Margareta said then stretched out her right hand. "Now let me see your wrist."

Merlin gave her a questioning look.

"My father said you would be free once the prince was gone, I'm keeping his promise."

"Do you have the key?" Merlin lifted his chained wrist and placed his hand in her hers.

"Don't need one." Margareta placed her other hand on top of his and whispered, "_Unlúcan_!" Her eyes flashed gold and a second later the manacle clicked and fell off his wrist.

Merlin rubbed his wrist gently, glad to no longer be chained to the bed. He was growing weary of looking at the same four walls each day. He couldn't wait to go outside, but first there was another matter to deal with.

"What about this?" Merlin touched the collar around his neck.

Margareta nodded and placed her hands on the metal. "_Sé galdor þing ac sé hæfting sy unbanden._" With another flash of golden eyes the collar clicked and came off.

Merlin listened to the words of magic carefully. He noticed that she left the spell on the collar in place and only unlocked the magical clasp. Nevertheless, once the collar was off he felt his magic returning to him. His skin tingled with excitement at being freed from his magical bond. Merlin took a deep breath, feeling as if the world was open to him once more after being closed off for so long.

"You probably should wait to do any magic."

Merlin nodded. He felt how unstable his returning magic was and knew he probably would muck up the simplest of spells if he tried now.

"Thank you, Maggie," Merlin eventually said once he felt able to speak.

Maggie smiled. "You're welcome." She then took Merlin's hand. "Come on, let's go outside!"

The offer to get out of the room cheered Merlin up immensely. He still felt uneasy about his returning magic and the situation he was in, but he had been locked inside for days and longed to be outside and feel the sun on his skin.

Slowly Merlin got to his feet and followed Margareta to the door. Once outside, Merlin breathed in the fresh air. The sky was mostly clear with only a few clouds. It was a nice late summer day, not to too hot or humid. It was bittersweet, really, relishing in the wonderful weather and the illusion of freedom from the lack of chains. Yet, Merlin knew better. He was not allowed to leave the village's borde and so his prison still remained, albeit a bit bigger one now.

Margareta proceeded to lead him around the village and showed him parts of the village he had not seen before, such as the stables and food supply tents. Many of the villagers looked at them as they passed, and as they did Margareta would tell Merlin their names and a small detail about who they were.

"That's old man Thomas," Margareta would say, pointing out an old grizzled man by the well. "He is our resident smith and that woman over there is Rosa, his wife. She's really good with herbs."

Sometimes the villagers would come up and introduce themselves. They seemed happy to have another magic user in their village, and Merlin couldn't help wonder how much they knew about his circumstances in coming here and why he had agreed to stay. One such villager was named Elmar, he was a short blond haired fellow who looked to be no older than sixteen.

"I can use magic too, though not as well as Maggie," Elmar told Merlin as they continued walking through the village.

"He shows a lot promise, though," Maggie said in response, a huge grin on her face. Merlin knew then how much Margareta loved her people, and that she would do anything for them. He could understand why she would participate in the kidnapping; it was only to help them. Merlin also saw that these villagers had very little to live on, and he knew that situation well from his life back in Ealdor.

"_Honest work," Merlin's mother said with a patient smile. "It breeds honest people."_

Merlin shook the memory of his mother from his mind, not even sure why he had thought of that specific memory to begin with.

Eventually Elmar moved on to go do his chores and Margareta and Merlin settled down by a large apple tree on the border of the village. Margareta picked a couple of apples and rubbed them in her apron first before handing one to Merlin.

"What do you think of the village?" Margareta asked after she took a bite of her apple.

Merlin held his apple in his hand, and looked out at the forest before them. "It's nice. It reminds me of my home a little bit."

"Didn't you live in Camelot?"

"Yeah." Merlin took a small bite of his apple. "But I grew up in a place called Ealdor, it's a small village on the border of Cenred's kingdom."

"Cenred's kingdom?" Margareta was clearly confused. "Then why would you move to Camelot where that tyrant Uther Pendragon lives?"

"My mother sent me there." Merlin felt a small pang in his heart his thoughts shifted from her to his mentor, Gaius. "She sent me to Camelot to live with her long time friend Gaius to protect me. Magic is still mistrusted there. She thought a small village was dangerous for me and that Gaius would help me to control my ability more."

"So you didn't go to Camelot to work as a servant?"

"No." Merlin shook his head as he remembered the day he first met Arthur. He had been such a royal pain, and Merlin never imagined he would one day become his servant, never mind his friend. "I saved his life from an assassin and King Uther rewarded me with the position. I couldn't refuse. I never thought I would have saved him, he had been such a prat when we first met, but after serving him for over a year I've learned that he's not all that bad. He certainly has his moments."

"It must have been dangerous being a magic user so close to the king."

"Yeah, I guess it was. There were a few times when Arthur or the king almost found out, but with Gaius's help I managed to keep it a secret."

"But now that the prince knows, you'll never be able to go back." Merlin noticed the note of sorrow in her voice, as if she understood that despite the complications, he actually enjoyed his life in Camelot.

"It's not your fault," Merlin couldn't help but say. "You didn't reveal my magic to Arthur."

Margareta nodded and quietly held her apple as the flesh turned brown around the edges of her first bite. "If the prince didn't know, would you have stayed?"

Merlin heard the unspoken question. _Do you want to be here? _

Merlin knew without a doubt that he would return to Camelot if he could. On the other hand, he truly liked Margareta and may have enjoyed being here if it wasn't under such painful circumstances. There was also the fact that he didn't entirely trust William and had seen his men murder innocent knights. He didn't know if he could forgive them for that.

"No," Merlin answered honestly, "But that's not what happened and I can't change that. I do think of you as a friend though, and I think it's a nice village. If I wasn't kidnapped, if I had never been to Camelot in the first place, maybe my answer would be different." That was the best he could give her.

Margareta nodded. "I understand." She gave him a small smile before continuing to eat her apple.

They spent almost the whole day together outside. Margareta continued to show him various aspects of the village and various chores he might be expected to do. No one sat around doing nothing; everyone pitched in, even the children. Their continued survival depended greatly on their cooperation and hard work, much like Ealdor.

When the night sky started dim, signaling that night was not far off, Margareta took Merlin back into the cabin and began making dinner for the both of them. Merlin was a little tired, having spent the day mostly walking around or trying some of their chores. He never once gave a thought to running. He knew there were still bandits watching him and making sure he didn't do anything. Regardless, he didn't want to betray Margareta's trust. She had taken a risk letting him go before her father came back and he didn't want to get her in trouble.

While they were eating their stew, William walked in carrying a heavy sack and grined when he saw Merlin and Margareta by the table. "The deed is done, the prince has been returned to his father."

Margareta put her spoon down, rushed up to him, and gave her father a quick hug. "So everything went well?"

"Yes." William gave his daughter a light kiss on the forehead. "Here." He gave Margareta the sack full of what Merlin had to assume was the ransom money. "Put this somewhere safe."

Margareta took the sack and rushed off into the back room. Once she was gone, William sat at the table and looked at Merlin.

"It is good to see you free, I never wanted to keep you prisoner like that."

Merlin stared at his food, he had nothing to say to that. He was under no illusion that William wouldn't bind him once more if he stepped out of line.

"Arthur was given to his father alive, just as you asked." William placed both of his hands on the table and folded them. "Now it's time for you to keep your part of the bargain."

"I know." Merlin gently stirred his half eaten stew, not once taking a bite. He had lost his appetite the moment William walked in.

Merlin could feel Williams eyes on him as he waited a moment before speaking. "Good. Finish your supper. We'll have a busy day tomorrow." William stood up from the table and headed towards his own bed.

Goosebumps formed on Merlin's arm; he always froze up when William arrived. He knew it upset Margareta when he did this, but he couldn't help it. Despite the arrangement they had made, Merlin was still wary of the man. He had been through too much to simply trust him now.

Merlin forced himself to take a bite of his stew, chewing slowly on the tough meat.

Minutes later, one of Williams bandits burst through the door. He was sweating profusely and clearly out of breath. He looked like he was about to force himself to speak though his heavy pants when he noticed Merlin and kept his mouth shut for a few more breaths before he finally spoke to William. "We need to talk. Now."

xxx

Gaius had known something was wrong when Arthur and his knights didn't arrive home by nightfall with Merlin in tow. It was supposed to be a simple hunting expedition, there was no reason for them to spend the night in the forest.

King Uther sent out a search party the following morning. A few hours later they arrived back with seven horses, six of them carrying the bodies of slain knights. Gaius immediately recognized the riderless horse as the one Merlin had taken on the hunt.

The old physician wasn't sure whether he should be thankful or terrified that Merlin was not with them. He also noticed that the prince was missing as well and he couldn't fathom at this moment what had happened that would cause both the prince and his servant to go missing.

Uther had made the same observation as he hurried over to the search party and demanded to know where his son was.

"He was nowhere to be seen," said the leader, a seasoned knight named Leonard. "We searched the camp. His horse and sword were also gone. All we found were the bodies of these knights, all slain with arrows. There were no tracks to follow, except those of the knights' horses that had wandered from the slaughter. "

"Was their any sign of Merlin?" Gaius dared to ask as Uther absorbed the information.

Leonard shook his head. "No, only his horse remained."

"Did you search the surrounding area thoroughly?" Uther demanded, his voice starting to sound panicked.

"Yes, Sire," Leonard answered with a bowed head. "There was nothing we could follow. The way the tracks disappeared, I suspect magic."

Uther glared at his knight, clearly upset that he wasn't out there still looking. He then glanced to the bodies of the dead knights as if he had just realized they were there. "Bring them in, we'll have their bodies prepared. However, I want you to refresh your horses and then ride back out. You will find my son!"

Gauis could see the knights were utterly exhausted from searching all day, but Leonard knew better than to argue with his king. He nodded to the other knights behind them and they proceeded to follow their orders.

Gaius looked over to the king, knowing that for once, they both shared the same exact fear. Merlin may not be his son by birth, but he thought him as good as one. Now Merlin, along with Arthur, were missing and there were dozens of questions, yet no answers.

Uther turned to Gaius as he walked back to his throne room. "Magic, Gaius! Will I never be rid of its evil?"

"We can't be sure of anything at the moment," Gaius said, though the revelation that magic may have been used spoke more to why Merlin was possibly taken. That is, if this was a kidnapping, and Gaius strongly suspected that. In any case they both were missing, and that was only thing they knew for certain.

"First Morgana, and now Arthur. I cannot keep losing them!"

"Sire, you haven't lost Arthur yet. The knights will find him."_ And Merlin too_, Gaius thought desperately.

"Sire, Sire, Come quick!" A guard called from behind before they could step back into the castle. "A man approaches on Arthur's horse!"

King Uther froze momentarily before turning around to see the horse approaching, carrying a man who most certainly was not his son. He had long brown hair and a heavy beard to match. He looked to be in his forties, and wore a rotting, old tunic with ill-fitting armor. "Guards, seize him!"

Gaius was about to protest, but the man on the horse spoke before he could get a word out. "I wouldn't get any stupid ideas about tossing me in your dungeon, King Uther. Not if you want to see your son again."

King Uther glared fiercely at the man, but motioned for the guards to stand down. The knights complied and circled around the rough looking young man on the horse, instead, with their swords drawn.

"Where is my son?" The king demanded through gritted teeth.

"He is well, for now," The man replied with a look of smug satisfaction. He quickly dismounted the horse and took a sword out of it's scabbard, one that looked remarkably like Arthur's. "However, If I do not return in three days time he will be killed." The man then laid the sword down on the ground. "The sword and horse are proof that we have your son."

"Then what is it that you want?" Uther glared at the sword, obviously recognizing it as belonging to Arthur.

"10,000 gold coins, to be exchanged at the agreed upon date and time."

"Is that all?"

"Of course, I must be allowed to leave safely to inform the others. I may also require a proper meal and bath. It's been a long ride."

"See to it that his man gets whatever he wants." Uther then stepped forward and picked up his son's sword. He pointed it at the bandit's neck, who did not flinch at all. "I will agree to this ransom, and if my son isn't returned to me alive, I will find you and slit your throat myself. Is that understood?"

The man smiled. "It is."

King Uther glared at the man for a moment longer before turning from the man and walking, almost running, back inside his castle. Gaius was almost about to follow him, but he had to know, and this man had answers.

"What about Merlin, Prince Arthur's servant?" Gaius asked.

The man looked at Gaius, seemingly surprised at the question, though he simply shrugged it off. "The boy is dead." Without waiting for a response, the man turned to the guards to see to his requests.

Gaius barely heard any of it. It was as if the world had suddenly stopped moving. Dead? How? Why? He was not found with the knights, why would he be taken to only be killed later? It didn't make any sense. Then again it made no sense for them to capture a servant. Either Merlin was dead, or there was more to the story.

Desperately, Gaius clung to the hope that the man was lying.

The physician did not speak with the man again, simply listening as the kidnapper later instructed the king on how the ransom was to play out. They were to bring the money in a large sack, just the King and two knights, to a designated place in the forest. They would be given a few days to collect the money, then a messenger would send a note with the location. If they suspected more than 3 people entered the area withing a kilometer of the spot, Arthur would be killed. If the king wasn't with them, Arthur would be killed. Other rules were given, which King Uther reluctantly agreed to and when everything was settled, the man left. As promised, he was not followed. Uther feared they would kill his son if he made such a mistake.

Despite the fact that King Uther agreed to meet the kidnappers with only two knights, he brought a whole battle contingent with him to wait at the aforementioned kilometer mark, as well as Gauis for any medical emergencies. It was there that Gaius waited for news of Arthur's rescue from the ransomers. Despite the pain he felt at the possibility that Merlin was dead, right now he had to focus on the prince and hope for his safe return.

As it turned out, Uther's request for the court physician to be standing by was a wise one. Gaius's heart pounded with dread as Alric came bursting into the clearing, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Gaius, the prince has been wounded, you must attend to him immediately!"

Gaius leaped into action and pushed his horse as fast as it would go through the thick woods, ignoring the occasional sting of branches whipping past his face. Once he reached the clearing he saw King Uther clinging to Arthur, clearly injured with an arrow in his back.

Gaius quickly dismounted from his horse and grabbed his medicine bag. As he knelt down by the king to get better loo, he immediately noticed that the arrow had hit the prince's shoulder, not his back. He knew right away that this was lucky, there was no chance of a punctured lung. However, that didn't mean the wound wasn't life threatening. He certainly had to remove the arrow and get the bleeding to stop.

"Sire, lift him up. I must remove the shaft," Gaius instructed, and the kind did as he was asked. He was able to get a good look at the wound and saw that the arrow head was protruding through the other side of his shoulder.

The prince started to moan in pain as his body was moved. "Shh, Sire," Gaius said, trying to comfort the half conscious prince. "This must be done." Gaius silently wished the prince was unconscious so he wouldn't have to feel what he was about to do.

Gaius grabbed the protruding arrow shaft in the back and quickly snapped off the feathered end, causing Arthur to cry out in pain. "Now, we need to pull the arrow forward," Gaius told Uther as he grasped the bloody arrow point that had poked through on the other side.

The prince cried out once more, but this time he fell unconscious from the pain. Gaius was worried at first that the shock of removing the shaft might have killed him, but Arthur was still breathing and his heart still beating.

Gaius wasted no time and began focusing on stopping the bleeding while also administering some of his medicines to stave off infection. Once he felt the prince's wound had been sufficiently bound, he turned back to the king, who looked every bit the distraught father with his son's blood covering his armor.

"I believe I've stopped the bleeding, but we must get him back to the castle so he can recover," Gaius said as he wiped the blood off his hands with a small rag.

"Of course," King Uther said. He turned to his knights, who were now surrounding King Uther, Arthur, and Gaius. "Bring the horses, we must leave at once."

"Sire!" One of the knights called out, and to Gaius's surprise it was Sir Conrad. He had with him one of the bandits that had partaken in the ransom. "I have captured the bandit, what do you wish done?"

"Well done, Sir Conrad," King Uther responded as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Bind him. We will interrogate him at Camelot."

Conrad nodded and did as commanded, while another knight, Sir Leonard, helped Gauis lift Arthur onto a horse. Gaius rode with the boy to keep him stable and monitor his condition. It was nearly half a day's ride back to Camelot, and the prince had to hold out till then. Arthur's life was in his hands and he would do everything in his power to save him. Then maybe, when Arthur was better, he could tell Gaius what really happened to Merlin.

xxx

"We need to talk. Now."

William immediately jumped from his bed and led the man towards the back room. "Of course. Come with me."

The men disappeared through the doorway, and Margareta emerged moments later.

"Have you finished your soup?" She asked, oblivious to the commotion that had just occurred.

"Uh-Almost," Merlin said as he forced down another spoonful. Merlin wanted to hear what they were talking about, no doubt it had something to with Arthur and the ransom. What else would get that man so worked up?

"I'm going to fetch some water to clean the dishes." Margareta picked up a large pale, unaware that Merlin's eyes were fixated on the back door. "I'll be right back."

"Alright," Merlin replied, remembering a the last minute to look away and give her a small nod.

Merlin waited for her to leave before standing up from his chair. He hurried over as quietly as possible to the door leading to Margareta's room and pressed his ear to the wood. It was useless though, he couldn't hear anything beyond hushed mumbling. He wanted to open the door but he knew he couldn't, they would more than likely noticed.

Merlin cursed under his breath as he tried to think of another way to listen, possibly with magic now that he could use it again. Merlin went through in his mind all the spells that he knew, mentally discarding them as all useless when suddenly Merlin's eyes lit up as he finally remembered. One of the spells in his book was for sound enhancement, specifically for human voices, he just had to remember how it went.

"_Hléoþ cuman æt mec!_" Nothing happened.

He knew why, it wasn't quite right. He was missing a peice of first word. Merlin desperately tried to remember, knowing that if he didn't get this right he could miss his only chance of finding out what really happened to Arthur.

"_Hléoþcwod cuman æt mec_!" Merlin tried again. This time he felt his eyes flash, though the result was not what he expected. Suddenly his spoon came flying towards him, he barely had time to catch it before it buried itself in the door.

Merlin breathed a sigh of a relief when he realized the mishap had gone unnoticed by the men in the room. He certainly did not need that getting their attention.

Merlin closed his eyes and breathed in deeply in an attempt to clam his nerves. He had to get this right, and he had little time. Once again he tried to remember the spell correctly.

"_Hléoþcwide cuman æt mec_!" Merlin felt the magic course through him, and when the first few words came to him from the other room, he knew he had it right.

"How could you leave him there?" Merlin immediately recognized the voice as William's.

"There was nothing I could do!" The bandit replied, his voice trembling as he tried to keep it low. "The king practically had a whole army with him at that point. There was no way I could rescue Alfred, I had to return to warn you."

William sighed. "The people aren't going to like this. We thought we had finally found a permanent home."

"We all knew the risks. We took a vote."

There was silence for a moments before William finally spoke again. "How could he have missed? He is our best marksman!"

"The prince moved at the last moment getting hit in the shoulder instead. He may die from his injuries, but the king was smart enough to have a physician on hand. He will more than likely survive."

Merlin felt his stomach sink. They were undoubtedly talking about Arthur, and from the sound of it, he had been gravely injured. At least Gaius was there, surely Arthur would survive with his mentor's help.

"So now we run the risk of Alfred being tortured into revealing our location, or the prince figuring it out. In either case, we must leave. It's such a shame. Margareta will be heartbroken, she hates moving. How long do you think we have?"

"I wouldn't take any chances. We should leave by sunrise."

"Alright, I'll let everyone else know."

"What about the boy?"

"What about him?"

"He's going to suspect something. Don't you have a deal with him?"

"He'll do what I say, and that is that."

"_Abregdan_," Merlin whispered, removing the spell. He had heard enough.

Merlin raised a hand to his head, thoughts racing in his mind. He had only a moment to decide what to do with this information and he couldn't second guess himself. He looked to the door. Margareta was gone, William suspected nothing at the moment, and all the villagers would be used to seeing him outside after today. If ever the was a chance to escape, now was it.

Merlin walked carefully over to the door. He could hear his heart beating in his ears as he gently pulled it open, desperately trying to not make a sound. If William walked out of the other room now, it was over. If Margareta walked back in now, it was also over.

Once the door was opened enough for him to slip through, he peered outside. No one was in the immediate area. Quickly, Merlin left the cabin and closed the door as gently as he opened it. Now that he was outside he wasted no time in making his way to the edge of the village.

Merlin kept to the shadows in the failing light. He peered out of every corner for any sign of a villager. While he might make it past them without any problems, he couldn't take the chance. Most people seemed to be inside, preparing or eating their evening meal. He also noticed a couple of the bandits walking about keeping watch. They were easy to avoid.

"Merlin?"

The sound of his name made his heart jump in his throat. He turned and immediately recognized Elmar, one of the villagers he had met earlier.

Elmar, who was holding a small lantern causing his face to glow eerily in the twilight , looked more confused than suspicious.

"Oh, hey. Where is the firewood kept?" Merlin blurted out the first excuse that came to mind. "I thought I remembered where it was, but now It's getting dark...and I'm not sure."

"Oh, it's over there." Elmar pointed in the direction he had just came. "It's next the small tent next to the well, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Merlin said with a hesitant smile. "Thanks."

"No problem." Elmar smiled in return before making his way to one of the other tents.

Merlin cursed slightly as he headed back the way he had just come, then ducked behind another tent when he was sure Elmar couldn't see him anymore, and then continued back to the edge of the small village.

Merlin had hoped he could steel a horse and make a fast escape, but when he saw the stables it was guarded by three men. He couldn't risk getting caught. He had to hope that his disappearance went unnoticed long enough for him to get away on foot.

"_I had to go cast some spells to obscure the horse tracks. The ride is a few hours long, they'll be back tonight if everything goes well."_

Margareta's words came back to him, and he realized he remembered that spell! It had been in the spell book Margareta had shared with him and if there was ever a time to use it, now would be it.

Merlin turned back and whispered the words of magic, _"Bedíglian mín swæþ!" _

Immediately the ground began to move very subtly, erasing the footprints he had made. Now the bandits wouldn't be able to spot where he left the village, even in the best of light.

Merlin then waited for a moment when all three men were looking away and made a quick dash for the forest. Once he made it to the cover of the trees he whispered the spell again. He cast it a few more times until he felt satisfied that they wouldn't know which direction he went before he finally abandoned stealth and burst out into a run.

He didn't know where he was going and it didn't matter. He was finally free after a week of captivity. All that matter was getting as much distance as he could from the bandits, then he'd figure out a way home.

So Merlin ran. He ran until he thought his lungs might burst and then he ran some more. Running was difficult; It was dark and treacherous. He slipped a few times and now his hands were scraped raw while branches cut at his cheeks and tore at his clothing.

Eventually his paced slowed down, and not long after he had to stop. Merlin gasped for air, wishing he had some water to drink because his mouth felt dry and sandy. He also wished he had any sort of supplies, really, but there had been no time.

Merlin fell against a large evergreen tree as he let his body rest for a moment. He had no idea how long he had been running, though the sun had finally set.

Merlin almost began to wonder if was too easy when the sound of hoof beats made his heart stop. Merlin looked around the tree and saw torch lights in the distance.

How could they have found him so fast in the failing light? Merlin silently cursed himself as he realized. Elmar. He must have told William, or at least pointed them in the right direction. How could he be so stupid?

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to calm his nerves. He had to focus. It

was dark, if he played this right they might pass him by.

Merlin looked around desperately for a place to hide. Most of the trees were thin evergreens and provided minimal cover. "Damnit," Merlin cursed before running forward and hiding himself behind another tree. Merlin quickly looked back and still saw the torches, but no indication that they had noticed his short run.

Merlin dashed forward to another tree, and then another, before he finally found large root lifted up above the ground creating an small alcove to hide in. Merlin couldn't believe his luck! He threw himself inside and began gathering up whatever dirt and leaves he could to cover himself.

The sound of hoof beats got closer and Merlin held is breath. They had to pass him by, he had the night on his side.

Merlin waited. The hood beats got even closer and he could hear the men calling out to each other.

"Which way?"

"I think we should head this way, the forest isn't as thick."

Neither of them sounded like William.

Merlin could not hear if the other man agreed but after a moment he heard the hoof beats moving away. The horses continued galloping away and soon the only thing he could hear was his own beating heart.

In that moment Merlin realized his eyes had been closed and his fists clenched tight. Reality came flooding back now that the men had moved on. Slowly Merlin emerged from the hole in the ground and looked around. There was no sign of anyone in the vicinity.

Merlin dusted the dirt off his clothes and once again began running into the dark, though in a different direction. Confident that he had shaken his pursuers, Merlin didn't press himself as hard and merely jogged at a brisk pace.

Despite the fact that the only source of light was the moon peaking through the branches above, he managed to keep himself on his feet. He knew he could be running in the complete wrong direction to get back to Camelot, but it didn't matter. As long as he evaded capture he could figure out his destination in the morning with the sun to guide him.

Merlin took another break from running, certain that he managed to shake his pursuers enough to take a moment to catch his breath.

_Thump! _

Merlin jumped in shock when an arrow lodged itself into the tree beside him, barely missing his head. Merlin knew it was a warning shot, the bandits were too good to miss, and he wasn't surprised they could shoot this well with only the moon as a source of light.

Merlin didn't run, he knew it was pointless now. He pushed himself from the tree and turned to face his attacker and found himself confronted by four mounted horses. William was among them, his glaring face illuminated by the torchlight.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had a little difficulty with the end of this chapter.

My last beta was temporary and I put out another request on the LJ community Merlin_Betas, but didn't get a response. Are any of my readers interested in helping out? I generally need help pointing out typos/mistakes that I inevitably miss and I appreciate any writing suggestions/critiques.

Edit: Thank you for all the beta offers, I wasn't expecting so many. I've already accepted an offer, but thanks to everyone else who kindly offered up their services.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Many thanks to socalrose for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The first thing Arthur noticed when he woke up was that he was in pain, and lots of it. The next thing he noticed was that he was in his own bed and he felt cleaner than he had in days. Someone must have washed him while he was sleeping and put him in his own sleeping clothes.

Arthur turned his head slightly to see if anyone was in the room. His mouth felt unbearably dry and he really wanted a sip of water.

What he found was Gaius sitting in a chair napping lightly. Arthur suspected the man had been watching over him, making sure his condition didn't worsen. He had no concept of how long he had been unconscious, but it didn't surprise him that it was long enough for Gaius to succumb to sleep on his watch.

"Gaius," Arthur called out and was startled at how weak he sounded.

Gaius stirred slightly and then opened his eyes. He took a moment to get his bearings before jumping from his seat. "Arthur, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," Arthur whispered.

"Right, of course." Gaius immediately poured the prince a glass of water and brought it over. Without being asked he helped Arthur into an upright position so he could drink without spilling it all over himself. The movement caused Arthur to gasp in pain, but he was happy for the help in his weakened state.

"How are you feeling?" Gaius asked after Arthur had satisfied his thirst.

"In pain."

"It's to be expected," Gaius replied as he began rummaging through his bottles of medicine. "You were hit in the shoulder with an arrow. I will give you something for the pain, but is there anything else? Nausea? Dizziness? Difficulty breathing?"

"Nope," Arthur said as he shifted his position slightly to avoid putting more pressure on his wound. "Just the pain."

"Well that's an excellent sign." Gaius found the tincture he was looking for and handed it to Arthur. "For the pain." Arthur took it gratefully and downed it in one swallow. He grimaced slightly at the taste and then handed the empty bottle back to Gaius.

"How long was I out?"

"Only since yesterday afternoon. We rushed you back to the castle. Luckily the wound was not as bad as it could have been," Gaius explained.

Arthur nodded, thinking back to the moment when he had been shot. It all seemed fuzzy now, but he remembered sensing something was wrong and then an explosion of pain through his shoulder. The men who had captured him were excellent shots; he must have moved at the last moment to spoil what would have easily been a kill shot. Arthur knew, without a doubt, that he was lucky he escaped with only a shoulder wound.

"Arthur, I must inform your father that you are awake, but before I do..." Gaius hesitated; something was troubling him, and Arthur could sense where this was going. "What happened to Merlin? The ransomer said he was dead, but I'm not sure I believe it. Surely you know -"

"He's dead," Arthur said, the words escaping his mouth before he could comprehend what he was saying. He knew Merlin was alive, and yet the lie came so easily.

Immediately he regretted saying those words when he saw the pain on Gaius' face, but he could not take them back. Even though he knew how much the physician cared for Merlin, and he didn't want to cause him this pain, he also knew Merlin was as good as dead anyway. It was better this way.

When Arthur found out Merlin had magic, it was as if the friend he had known and come to trust had died only to be replaced by a lying sorcerer. Besides, Merlin would be executed if he came back to Camelot - Uther would see to it.

_But only if you revealed the truth to you father. This way, you don't have face that choice._ The thought nagged at Arthur, but he pushed the thought aside. He couldn't betray his father in that way.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said after a few moments of silence. He knew it was an entirely inadequate sentiment, but he didn't know what else to say.

Gaius had a strange look in his eyes as he regarded Arthur. "How...How did he die?"

Arthur wasn't prepared to answer that question and couldn't help but hesitate. "He, well, the bandits...killed him in front of me." It was true, to an extent.

"The knights, they found no body," Gaius replied calmly. "Yet, they found the bodies of all the other knights killed when you were captured."

"Well," Arthur said as he took a deep breath, trying to think of how to respond. He had not expected Gaius to interrogate him about Merlin's death like this. "They did it after we were captured, when they took us back to their village."

"Why would they take him only to kill him at their village?"

"Too keep me in line, I guess."

Gaius said nothing for a long moment as he regarded Arthur carefully. The prince looked away, unable to keep eye contact with Gaius. His guilt must have shown on his face, because a moment later he heard a pain-filled whisper, "You're lying - why would you lie to me about this?"

"Because Merlin is a sorcerer!" Arthur spat back. He would not feel embarrassed for his lie, not when Merlin had been lying to him all this time.

Arthur expected Gaius to be confused or surprised, but instead he was silent which spoke volumes. Arthur closed his eyes, his voice barely above a whisper, "You knew."

Gaius remained silent, his eyes downcast.

"You knew!" Arthur repeated, his voice louder and more angry.

"Yes," Gaius finally replied, "Of course I knew."

"You do realize I could have you brought up on charges for this!"

"Would you?" Gauis calmly asked.

Arthur regarded the older man before him. He knew this man treated Merlin like a son, could he begrudge him the desire to keep him off the executioner's block? "No. However, you must know I can't forgive Merlin for this transgression. Besides, he chose to stay with those bandits, so he's as good as dead to me."

"Despite all he's done for you? Despite how many times he has saved your life?" Gaius was practically yelling and had slammed his medicine bag down on the table in anger. Arthur was shocked; he had never seen the man so upset. In fact, he never thought the physician capable of such anger or that he would dare to be so disrespectful to his prince.

"Saved my life? What are you talking about?"

"I know you can often be oblivious, Arthur, but don't be an idiot," Gaius admonished.

"Gaius, I am your prince, don't presume you can speak to me like that!" Arthur knew it was a pathetic deflection, but it was easier than facing the truth. "Sorcery is evil," Arthur continued, trying to keep his voice level. "Everyone knows it; my father has done everything he can to protect Camelot from the treachery of those who would use it."

"You father is an hateful old man who fears what he cannot understand!" Gaius's body was shaking with anger as he ignored Arthur's rebuke. "I have watched you grow up, Arthur! I had hoped you would not take after your father in this regard; Merlin does not deserve your hatred! He was born with magic and there is nothing he can do about it. Yet, instead of retaliating against you and your father for the persecution of his kind and the constant fear of being found out, he has put his life at risk to help you time and time again!"

"You'll want to leave this room, Gaius," Arthur's voice was dangerously even. Gaius's words cut deep, possibly from the truth in them, but Arthur did not want to hear it. He wasn't ready to consider that he had been wrong for his reaction to Merlin's revelation. "I'll ignore what you just said on account of you being upset, but if you continue you might say something I simply cannot ignore."

Gaius met Arthur's eyes, silently straightening his shoulders and pressing his lips into a tight thin line for a moment before responding. "I will inform your father that you are awake - sire."

"Please do."

Gaius nodded curtly and then turned to head towards the door.

"Gaius," Arthur said, causing the man to stop in mid-stride, though he did not turn. "We will not speak of this again. Merlin is gone. You'll have to accept that."

Keeping his back turned to the prince Gauis asked, "Do you know why Merlin chose to stay with your kidnappers?"

"No."

"Did you ask?"

"No."

The answer seemed to satisfy Gaius and he left without asking another question.

xxx

Merlin sat huddled in the prison he had first been locked in when he was captured with Arthur. It was dark, but he could hear the rest of the village urgently gathering their most precious belongings as they prepared to abandon their home.

His captors hadn't even bothered to chain his wrists when they threw him in. There was no need; he was surrounded by enemies that would never let him escape.

Merlin rubbed his cheek, which he knew must already have a nasty bruise. William had been so angry last night that he had struck Merlin multiple times before once more forcing the binding collar around his neck.

Merlin had tried to fight back, but he was surrounded and once the collar was back on, he could barely focus enough to stand. At least William did not strike him after he was subdued.

No one, not even William, said a word as Merlin was taken back to the village. Once they returned, William ordered Merlin to be thrown into the makeshift prison that they had used to hold Arthur and then began barking orders at everyone else to prepare for the evacuation.

The thought of sleep never occurred to Merlin as he silently listened and waited for the confrontation he knew would eventually happen. He was honestly surprised William had not killed him when he tried to escape, although he wondered if death was better than being kept a prisoner without the use of his magic.

Merlin couldn't help wonder what Margareta thought about all of this, since she was nowhere to be seen when he was brought back to the village. She had been so good to him despite the circumstances and he knew his escape attempt must have hurt her. He also knew she wouldn't understand why he had tried to leave. Merlin was certain William kept secrets from his daughter.

So Merlin sat and waited in the dark for William to come. He tried to ignored the exhaustion he felt and the nagging headache the collar caused him by focusing his thoughts on Arthur - was he alive? Did the bandits succeed? Would the king send knights after them? Did the king know he had magic?

Merlin desperately wished he could return to Camelot, even if Arthur had revealed his secret. He couldn't stand not knowing the truth or abandoning his destiny. He had accepted long ago that he was meant to help the prince, and he wasn't prepared to give that up.

It wasn't until the sun had risen and light peeked through the many holes in the wooden prison that William finally arrived.

"I am disappointed in you, Merlin," William said his arms crossed as if he was scolding a child for misbehaving. "I thought we had a deal."

"I wasn't the one who broke it," Merlin replied, his voice shaking slightly.

William rubbed his brow and sighed. "Merlin, I would never break my word."

"You tried to have Arthur killed!" Merlin couldn't believe what he was hearing. They had a deal, how could this man think he had not broken it?

"Yes, but after I returned him to his father alive, just as you asked."

Merlin's eyes widened. "You can't be serious!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"I have no idea what you would consider a joke," Merlin scoffed.

William let out a soft chuckle. "Trust me when I say I am not joking about this. You're lucky I didn't have you killed last night for your idiotic attempt to escape."

Merlin didn't doubt that William now spoke the truth. William had been angry enough to kill last night and Merlin knew the only reason he was alive was that William must still think he could get Merlin to do what he wanted. It was not a pleasant prospect, as Merlin had no intention of helping the treacherous bandit.

"Why don't you just let me go," Merlin said, doing all he could to try to keep the desperation from his voice. "You're leaving this place anyway and I have no idea where you're going. You can leave me behind without worrying if I'll betray you, because I can't."

William shook his head. "Merlin, Merlin, Merlin, you should know better. Either you come with us or you die right here, right now. You already know too much about us, regardless of whether you know where we are going."

Merlin closed his eyes, trying to quell the fear he felt in the pit of his stomach. "Why are you doing this? Why am I so important to you when you have other magic users helping you?"

"Because," William said as he approached Merlin. He grabbed the young warlock by the back of his shirt, near the collar, and yanked him up onto his feet. "None of them are dragonlords."

Merlin's eyes widened at the revelation. "You know about that?"

"I told you already, I knew your father."

"Even if that's true, there are no more dragons."

"Don't take me for a fool, Merlin." William began shoving him out the door.

Merlin didn't respond as he was forced outside. His eyes watered from the bright rising sun and he blinked away the tears to find the village was completely torn down. The only structure that remained was the prison itself which was now being enchanted away by a couple of sorcerers. The small shacks, the tents, and even the well were gone, as if they never had existed in the first place.

What did remain were it's people, many on horses, others in and around the large covered wagons that now stood before him.

Merlin was made to turn back around and watch as a few villagers morphed the wood into another wagon with their magical words. Once the spell was complete they filled it with the last of their belongings, which did not take long at all with they way they worked together.

Merlin noticed Margareta was among those using magic on the wood. He waited to see if she would look his way, but the more he watched her, the more he realized she was purposely avoiding looking in his direction.

With the last of the preparations complete, Merlin was pushed over to the last wagon and forced inside. It was then that Merlin noticed William had a set of manacles in his hand. He placed them against a strong wooden plank before calling to his daughter.

Margareta jumped into the wagon and placed her hand on the links. She continued to avoid looking at Merlin as she whispered the words of magic, causing the links to melt into the wood. When the task was complete, Margareta left.

William wasted no time and chained Merlin's wrists to the wagon. The links weren't very long, and limited him to a sitting position.

"Since you've proven I can't trust you, you will stay in here for now."

Merlin clenched his fists s he yanked on the chains, testing how well they were bound to the wagon. "How long?"

William sighed. "A day, maybe two, before we reach the new location for our village."

Merlin closed his eyes and swallowed. He certainly wasn't looking forward to spending a couple of days trapped in a wagon.

"You said you knew my father, enough to know he was a dragonlord, right?" Merlin asked as William went to leave the wagon.

The bandit stopped in his tracks. "Yes."

"Enough to be his friend?"

William didn't answer immediately, nor did he turn around. "Friendly enough, but that was a long time ago"

"I bet." Whatever existed between this man and his late father obviously did not extend to his son.

William laughed, finally turning around to address Merlin directly. "I owe you nothing, boy."

"Nor I you," Merlin said, his voice shaking. "I won't work for you, I won't do it. You might as well kill me now."

"There are other ways to gain your cooperation." William said nothing further and left Merlin to figure out just exactly what those ways were.

Once William was gone Merlin yanked angrily at the chains, ignoring the pain they caused his wrists. His eyes teared up as he let out a gasping sob. He had never felt so helpless and so alone, and now the one friend he had made in this ordeal wouldn't even talk to him.

Suddenly the wagon lurched into motion and began it's slow trek to their new home. Merlin shifted his position and wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeve. He would stay strong, he had to until he could figure a way out of this horrible mess.

xxx

"I will have a new servant assigned to you tomorrow; for now the servant Guinevere will see to your needs," King Uther said as he sat next to his son.

Arthur had been barely paying attention to his father, still shocked at the argument he had just had with Gaius. He couldn't believe Gaius had participated in this treachery for so long, and yet what Gaius had said about Merlin - could it be true? Was he really that oblivious to what was going on around him?

"Replace Merlin? So soon?" Arthur asked as it occurred to him what his father had just said.

"Well he's dead isn't he?" King Uther replied dismissively.

Arthur's servant had done his duty, and what's more he actually managed to die doing it. To Uther, that meant he had to be replaced, and gave no consideration to how Arthur might feel about the matter. Despite his protests to the contrary, Uther often seemed somewhat unconcerned for the people he swore to rule and protect. This was one of many examples.

Arthur wondered why it struck him now, when he wanted nothing more than to be rid of Merlin. He had always been the worst servant and now he was a traitor. Besides, his father's lack of concern was for someone who wasn't really dead, why should he care?

"Yes," Arthur said after a moment of silence, a moment of rebuking himself for thinking he was supposed to be upset about this. "That's fine. Gwen will suffice until then."

"Good." Uther clasped his son's hand in a rare show of love and support. "Rest now. You'll want to regain your strength."

"I know, Father," Arthur replied, annoyed that his father would be more concerned about him taking care of his responsibilities rather than healing. "I will get back to my duties as soon as I can."

Uther sighed and shook his head in response. "No, I don't want you rushing yourself. I just want you to know that we captured one of the bandits and when you're well enough I want you to confirm his identity. However, that can wait. It's more important you rest."

"Oh, of course, Father." They had captured one of the bandits? Gaius never mentioned anything about a prisoner. Granted, their argument didn't leave room for them to discuss anything else.

No doubt his father would be torturing the man for information. King Uther was not one to let a slight go unpunished and he was likely determined to find this village and exterminate it not only for the sin of harboring sorcerers, but more importantly for trying to kill his son, his sole heir to the throne of Camelot.

"Rest well," King Uther said before rising from his seat and leaving the prince's chambers.

Rest well was exactly what Arthur couldn't do. His thoughts kept wandering from his argument with Gaius to the last time he saw Merlin. It was so easy to just be angry at Merlin for lying, to accept what his father said time and again about the evils of sorcery.

Yet, Arthur knew without a doubt that Merlin was not evil.

He was certainly an idiot, but Arthur couldn't imagine him trying to purposely hurt anyone. Besides, Gaius had said Merlin had saved his life on occasion, which, when Arthur thought about it, made a lot of sense in certain past events. Had it all been Merlin? Did Arthur owe Merlin his life?

There was also the question of Merlin agreeing to stay with the bandits. Arthur had assumed Merlin wanted to stay, but what if it was really true that Merlin had not been given a choice? He had been chained the last time Arthur saw him in that window, and he had looked so sad.

Something just didn't add up. The more Arthur thought about it, the more he realized that something was really wrong.

Why would the ransomer claim Merlin was dead? Why was Merlin chained when he was told he agreed to stay in the village? Why did William reveal Merlin's secret the way he did? There was something else going on, Arthur was certain of it.

Arthur pushed his covers off and moved to the edge of the bed. He was still in a lot of pain, and the sudden movement made his head swim. He was probably too weak to be doing this, but he didn't care. He was determined to get answers and there was only one person in the castle who had them.

Arthur stepped off the bed, though he continued leaning on the nightstand as he tried to fight the rising nausea. After a few moments he felt stable and began walking slowly towards the door.

Before he could even get close enough, the door opened revealing the servant Gwen, a washbowl in hand. "Arthur!" she exclaimed, immediately placing the bowl aside to assist him. "What are you doing up? You should be in bed!"

Arthur couldn't speak for a moment. After all he had been through, he was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of Morgana's serving maid. "G-Gwen, it is good to see you."

"It is good to you too, sire." A small smile graced her lips. "Please, let me help you to your bed."

Arthur shook his head and lightly pushed her away. "No, I must go to the dungeons."

"Arthur, are you mad? What reason could you possibly have for going to the dungeons?" Gwen asked.

"I need answers," Arthur replied, not knowing what else to say. Arthur had no idea how to explain to her what was going on and if he even should tell her anyway.

Obviously Gwen had already heard the lie about Merlin, as her face fell from concern to sorrow. "I am so sorry about Merlin. He was also my friend, and after losing Morgana, this is too much to take, I know."

Arthur looked at Gwen and immediately felt regret. She had been so sad ever since Morgana's disappearance, and she had lost her father not too long ago. To lose Merlin as well must be devastating and Arthur felt horribly guilty for the pain she must be feeling.

"The man in the dungeon has answers," Arthur said, knowing she of all people would understand his need for answers.

"Then let me help you, if you must."

"Thank you, Guinevere." Arthur could not help but gently touch her cheek. He had hoped his feelings for her would lessen over time, it would make things easier, but they only grew.

Gwen gave Arthur a small smile before she guided his arm around her shoulder and helped him out of the room.

Arthur was grateful for her assistance as it became clear he probably would have never made it to the dungeons on his own. They ran into a few guards who tried to convince him to return to his room, but Arthur would have none of it. They even tried to offer assistance themselves to let Gwen return to her work, but Arthur refused, claiming the knights should return to their own task of guarding the dungeon. Though truth be told, he didn't want to let go of Gwen just yet.

"The cell is just down that passageway, sire," the knight said as he reluctantly let Arthur pass. "Call for us if you need anything."

Arthur nodded his thanks and then continued down the corridor with Gwen. Once they reached the door that would lead to the cell, Arthur asked Gwen to stop.

"I must rest a moment, I don't want to go in looking half dead."

Gwen smiled and shook her head. "Then you should rest another day if you truly want that."

Arthur rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Indeed, but trust me, Gwen, this can't wait."

Gwen's eyes furrowed as she regarded the prince. "Will you tell me what this is really about?"

Arthur breathed in sharply and glanced at the door leading to the prisoner's cell. He wasn't sure what he should say to Gwen, if anything at all. He was still trying to figure everything out for himself. He had already perpetuated the lie that Merlin was dead, what would Gwen think of him she knew the truth? Arthur suddenly looked back at Gwen, a thought occurring to him.

"Gwen, when your father was killed, it was for unwittingly consorting with sorcerers, but what if your father was actually a sorcerer?"

"Arthur, please, why must you bring this up?" Arthur felt Gwen tense as she pushed away, clearly upset at his words.

The prince grasped Gwen's hands and held them close. "Gwen, I swear to you, it is important."

Gwen sighed and looked down. "I don't understand, if he was a sorcerer he would have been executed anyway."

Arthur noticed a small tear fall down her cheek. He wished he didn't have to ask such a painful question, but he had to know. "No, I mean, how would you have felt if you found out your father was really a sorcerer?"

Gwen looked up, her brow raised. "I dunno. I would be upset, I guess."

"Would you still have loved him?"

"Of course, Arthur, he was my father!" Gwen sniffed lightly and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Even if he lied to you all your life?"

Gwen gave him a disbelieving look. "Well the law would force him to, would it not?"

Arthur opened his mouth, about to respond angrily that it was against the law, when he realized Merlin had said the exact thing to him back at the village when his magic had been revealed.

"Arthur, what is this about?" Gwen asked when Arthur failed to respond.

Arthur closed his eyes as he spoke, "Do you think the law forces good people to live a lie? That it kills innocent people, whether they have magic or not?" He had dared think these thoughts only once before, when he believed his father had killed his mother. _And who was it that talked you down? Merlin. Merlin stopped you from killing your father, when your father would have him killed in an instant if he knew about his magic, regardless of whatever deeds Merlin had done in the past._

Gwen gasped. "Arthur, I can't answer that."

"It's alright, you don't have to." Arthur leaned forward and lightly kissed Gwen on the forehead. "Thank you for your honesty."

Gwen said nothing, but smiled sadly at Arthur. "I miss my father every day."

"And for that, I am truly sorry." Arthur couldn't keep the guilt from his voice.

"I know you are." Gwen replied. Arthur knew she spoke truthfully and he was grateful for that one small mercy.

Arthur let go of Gwen's hands and with a heavy sigh he turned to the door. "I'm ready - will you wait for me out here?"

"Of course, sire."

"Thank you, Gwen," Arthur said as he moved towards the door. The journey from his room to the dungeons was exhausting, and his brief rest didn't do much to regain his energy, but his need for answers kept him standing and his feet moving.

There was no torch inside the dungeon, but it was still daytime. Sunlight shone through one lone window and provided enough light by which to see. It took Arthur a moment before he noticed the prisoner, sitting in a corner away from the beam of light. He was chained to the wall and bleeding from his nose and cheek. No doubt some of the knights decided to get some of their own revenge for the murder of their fellow knights and friends, as well as the capture of their prince.

"So you live," the prisoner said before Arthur could say anything. "What a shame."

Arthur stepped forward to get a better look at the man through the bars that separated them. Despite the dirt and blood on the man's face, he recognized him as one of the bandits who had initially captured him and subsequently brought him food during the course of his captivity.

"Alfred, isn't it?" Arthur said as he vaguely remember another bandit addressing him as such.

"I'm honoured that my prince remembers me," Alfred said in a mocking tone.

Arthur didn't reply and instead walked right up to the bars, looking over the roughed up young man. Young he was, though the thin black beard would try to fool you. Arthur guessed the bandit must have been the same age, if not a little older than himself.

"What have I done to you that you would wish me dead?" Arthur asked.

Alfred's eyes widened, clearly surprised at being asked such a question. No doubt the man expected a brutal interrogation, not a one-on-one conversation with the prince about the nature of his kidnapping. "It's not so much what you have done, but what your father has done," Alfred eventually said in response.

"Tell me what happened."

"You really want to know?" Alfred asked sounding surprised.

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

Alfred adjusted his position on the floor, his chains rattling lightly. "It was my brother; our mother was dying so he sought magic to save her life. He was discovered."

"My father had him killed." It was not a question.

"My mother died two days later," Alfred said, glaring at Arthur as if he had done the deed himself. "If you ask anyone else at our village, you would hear similar stories!" The man's voice grew louder with anger. "Our leader, William, watched his pregnant wife burn - this is the evil that your father brings to Camelot and its lands!"

"You wanted my father to feel the same pain," Arthur said, his voice solemn. He wanted to hate this man for all he had done to him and his knights, but as Arthur looked into his eyes all he could see was pain. He could see clearly that this man was driven by revenge, not evil, and understanding that distinction was a revelation he was uncertain how to deal with.

"It is no less than he deserves for all the pain he has caused."

Arthur ignored those words and instead asked the question he had really come here to ask. "So I get why you took me, but what I don't get, is why you took Merlin. So tell me, Alfred, what does your leader want with Merlin?"

Alfred regarded Arthur with surprise, an eyebrow cocked before he eventually let out a painful laugh. "You surprise me, Prince Arthur. I fully expected you to demand the location of the village."

The man was avoiding the question, which only served to let Arthur know he was on to something. "I'm not an idiot, Alfred. Even if I thought for a second that you would rat out your friends, that village was clearly nomadic. No doubt they've already left when they realized I survived and you were captured, so you wouldn't know anyway. Though I have to wonder, will they try and rescue you or leave you to die at my father's hand now that they have their ransom money?"

That wiped the smirk off the prisoner's face. "We all knew what we signed up for," the man simply stated.

"So you're a dead man."

"Better me than risk the entire village."

"So you have nothing to lose, and nothing to gain by telling me anything."

"Wrong. I protect my village by telling you nothing."

"What if I told you I'm not interested in your village?"

Alfred scoffed. "Don't play me for a fool, sire."

"I'm not." Arthur was beginning to get frustrated by this conversation. He was getting nowhere, and this man was clearly prepared to die with his secrets. Arthur was also feeling incredibly weak from standing for so long. He hated to show weakness, but he could no longer keep himself upright. Slowly he sank to the ground.

Alfred's eyes followed the prince as he sat. He said nothing until Arthur was facing him once more. "Hmm, maybe you will die after all if you push yourself like this."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I will live. You, however, will not, unless you cooperate with me."

"Cooperate with you?" Alfred sighed. "Must I tell you again? I will not be played for a fool."

"No, clearly you will not, so I will be straight with you. I do not want revenge against your village, what I want to know is why you and your fellow bandits kidnapped Merlin. I want to know why your ransomer claimed Merlin was dead. I want to know why Merlin was chained despite being told he agreed to stay in your village. So tell me, Alfred, what is the real reason you attacked me and my knights?"

"I thought you didn't care about magic users?"

"I thought the same," Arthur replied truthfully.

Alfred regarded the prince silently. He was clearly considering his options and the truth of Arthur's words. "I will not betray my village."

"I'm not asking you to," Arthur replied, knowing in that moment that he meant those words. He was here for Merlin, not for revenge.

Alfred sighed and looked away. "The kidnapping was more about Merlin than it was ever about you."

Arthur felt his heart beat quicken. He was onto something really important, and what's more, he beginning to realize how much of a fool he had been. "Why?"

"I have already said more than I should. All I can tell you is that Merlin didn't agree to stay because he wanted to."

Arthur slammed his fist into the bars in a sudden burst of anger. "He was coerced."

"Despite the fact that you so readily tossed him aside, Merlin wasn't so ready to do the same with you." Arthur could hear the condemnation in the man's voice. Merlin had been the honorable one, not Arthur.

"Will you tell me more if I can guarantee your safety and the safety of your village?" Arthur said, unsure if what he was doing was right thing to do, but he knew in his gut he had to pursue this.

"If I believed you could do such a thing...sure," Alfred replied. Clearly he didn't think Arthur had the authority to pull anything off.

"At the very least, my father won't execute you until I've identified you as one of my captors," Arthur said, barely believing where he was going with this, but knowing it was the right thing to do. "If I get you out of here, will you take me back to the village? Just me, no knights."

"You already know my village will have moved."

"So you are saying you wouldn't be able to find the village at its new location if you just happened to escape?"

Alfred eyed Arthur, clearly trying to judge whether he could trust Arthur to gain his freedom or if he was better off staying here and dying for his people. Clearly the will to live was stronger. "Maybe; But I wouldn't know for sure until I got out of this cell."

"It will be a few days." Arthur looked at his shoulder, knowing he would need to be well healed before he could even think about rescuing Merlin.

"Hm, clearly." Alfred eyed Arthur's wound as well. "I can wait if you keep the interrogations at bay."

"Done. Oh, and one last thing," Arthur said as he pulled himself back to his feet. "What was your brother's name?"

Alfred blinked, clearly shocked at such a question, though seemed to answer despite himself. "Osric, sire."

Arthur thought back and tried to remember. He had seen his father execute a sorcerer many times, and yet he never remembered their names. This time was no different as he couldn't pick the name out of the many he had seen killed. It hit Arthur, just then, how wrong it that was.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss," Arthur said before he turned and headed back to the door.

He didn't see the man's reaction, but he heard the faintly whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

A/N: As always I appreciate any and all comments, and thank you all for the beta offers! I did not expect so many, especially when I'm always nervous about asking for betas, I don't know why. :/

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Since I'm doing my own little personal challenge with NaNoWriMo and making myself write 50k for my two WIPs, this one and the Avatar one, I suspect you won't be waiting to long for chapter 5. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Warning: There is some torture in this chapter, though not explicit.

Beta read by Socalrose

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Merlin tried to sleep, but found himself only dozing in small doses. He couldn't get comfortable and his wrists were in agony. Riding in a wagon through rough forest was bad enough, but with every bump the wagon hit, the chains on his wrists scraped painfully against his skin. They were only taken off for the rare occasions he was allowed to eat and relieve himself, and as soon as they were put back on, it seemed like the manacles hurt only more.

Merlin also couldn't sleep because too much was on his mind. His thoughts were racing from what he could have done differently when he tried to escape, to desperately trying to figure a way out the mess he was in. He knew he would be guarded more than ever now that he had tried to escape, and William made it perfectly clear that he intended to get what he wanted out of Merlin. The implication that he would resort to torture was there, and it made Merlin's skin crawl.

Regardless of how badly Merlin wanted to be free, he knew it was practically hopeless as long as the collar remained on him and blocked his magic. These people had all the control, Arthur had abandoned him, and Merlin was far too unskilled in physical combat to be affective without his magic. As the wagon continued on, Merlin felt despair sinking in.

Merlin silently cursed his situation. William knew so much about him and yet Merlin had no clue about what exactly he was planning. It was painfully obvious that he wanted magic users in his village, not just to keep them safe and to give them refuge, but to also gain strength and potentially strike back at King Uther. The question was how and when? Merlin had to wonder how many people in the village knew exactly what was going on.

Then there was the fact that William not only knew he was a dragonlord, but that Kilgharrah was not dead. How did he know this? Merlin could only assume that there was more to William than what he knew, or possibly someone else knew and was feeding him information. Of course, that only led to the question of who that person was.

The journey ended up taking a day and a half, after which Merlin was taken from the wagon and forced into a small tent that had already been erected. A wooden pole had been placed in the center, and Merlin was pushed against it, his arms yanked behind his back. The chains were once more placed around his wrists on the other side of the pole, preventing him from even trying to leave the tent.

Merlin sank down to the ground, leaning heavily against the pole as he did. He was weary from lack of sleep and hunger. They had barely fed him since the attempted escape; Merlin was sure it was done to punish and weaken him.

Not long after he was placed there, Margareta arrived, a bowl of soup in her hands. "I have permission to let your hands free to eat, but know that there are guards outside should you try anything stupid."

"I understand," Merlin replied.

Margareta nodded and placed the food down beside Merlin before she unlocked the chains with magic. Merlin hesitated for a moment, as Margareta settled down in front of him, intent on watching him eat.

Merlin reached out and grabbed the soup. His hunger overwhelmed him and he began eating as fast as he could, ignoring the fact that Margareta was watching him. When he finished his meal, he placed the bowl back down on the ground and looked up at Margareta. "Thank you."

Margareta made no move for the bowl. "Why did you try to escape?"

Merlin hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer. He was glad that Margareta wanted to talk to him, but it was clear she was still upset with him and he didn't think his answer would make her feel any better. However, he knew she wanted the truth so he gave it to her. "William made me a promise, he did not keep it."

Margareta sighed. "My father says he did."

"Your father knew I wanted no harm to come to Arthur, but he tried to kill him anyway and pretended that the point at which he made this attempt actually made a difference!" Merlin replied angrily.

Margareta eyes Merlin for a moment before responding. "Let's say I agree, and my father did break his word. You are trying to protect a prince who hates our kind!"

"Arthur is my friend." Merlin knew it was a weak response, but it was no less true.

Margareta rolled her eyes in disgust. "How many of our people did you see executed on your cozy perch of servant to the prince?"

"That's not fair, I-"

"No, it wouldn't be fair if you were just trying to survive like the rest of us," Margareta said, cutting Merlin off from any explanation. "Instead, you have been protecting a prince and a king who would see us all dead!"

Merlin couldn't respond. Margareta's words stung from the truth they contained. She was right, he was protecting a king who hated his kind and every time he saved Uther's life, he felt like a traitor. Yet, he knew he did it with a greater purpose in mind. If Arthur was to ever accept magic users, he could not let his father die at their hands. Their future was at stake, though it wasn't something he could explain to someone like Margareta. Would she understand what it meant to be given a destiny?

"Arthur is not like that," Merlin eventually said.

"He abandoned you," Margareta spat back. "Hated you the moment he found out about your magic, so how is it that you still want to protect him? How is that you still think of him as a friend? My father wanted to save you, but it's clear you're beyond help."

"You father doesn't want to help me, he wants to use me!" Merlin replied in anger. As wrong as he may be about Arthur, he wasn't going to pretend William was a good guy for Margareta's benefit. "He plans to torture me to help him on some insane plan to attack King Uther! And I am willing to bet he wants to do the same with all the magic users in this village!"

Margareta stood up, furious at Merlin's words. "How dare you accuse my father like that!"

"Why don't you ask him? Ask him why he really captured Arthur and me! It wasn't to save me, otherwise why would I still be a prisoner?"

"Because you wanted to betray us!"

"I wanted to escape because I knew I couldn't trust your father," Merlin said, his voice sad. He knew this argument was futile. Margareta loved her father too much to believe the words of a boy she had only just little more than a week ago.

Margareta shook her head in disbelief. "My father protects magic users, you prince kills them. I cannot understand why you would choose Prince Arthur over my father, but so be it. We cannot let you run off and betray our location." Margareta raised her hands, eyes flashing gold for a moment. "_Edcierr æt þín geraoentteágian!_"

Merlin's arms were forced behind his back with magic and the manacles clicked around his wrists a second later. As soon as Merlin was secured Margareta picked up his empty bowl and left the tent.

Merlin sat there, staring at the tent flap, feeling unbearable numb from their heated conversation. Merlin had no idea why he insisted on defending Arthur after everything that happened. Maybe he wasn't ready to let go of his destiny? Whatever it was, he had not regained Margareta's trust, and he knew in that moment he was truly alone.

Despite Merlin's anxiety over what had just happened and his fear of what was to come, exhaustion finally overtook him and he fell into a fitful dreamless sleep.

Merlin had been asleep for hours when he woke, though it felt like only minutes. Night had fallen, and the village was still bustling about, rebuilding what they had only just torn down a couple days ago.

He could hear voices, which seemed to be the reason he was awake now. He couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but as the world came more into focus the longer he was awake, he started making out words, then sentences.

"He seems like a lot of trouble, are you sure he's worth it?" A female voice said. Whoever this woman was, she sounded extremely familiar.

"That's up to you." Merlin immediately recognized William's voice. "I told you I knew of a dragonlord's son, and I have brought him here just as you have asked. I've done my part."

"Fair enough," the woman said. "I'll see him now."

Merlin had been laying down in a rather awkward position against the pole when he woke up, and he quickly pushed himself up so he could face William and this mystery woman in a somewhat more respectable seated position.

The tent flap was pushed aside and William entered, followed by the woman. Merlin's eyes widened in shock when he immediately recognized her. It was Morgause.

Morgause was clearly shocked as well, and turned to yell at William once the surprise wore off. "You did not tell me it was the prince's servant!"

"No, and with good reason," William said, his arms crossed in defense.

"So this is why you moved locations!" Morgause replied with anger. "You were the fools who kidnapped the prince for ransom and botched up actually killing him!"

"I knew you wouldn't approve, So I didn't tell you," William said, seemingly nonchalant about Morgause's anger.

Merlin remained silent throughout the exchange, he was too frightened and surprised to really say anything anyway. Though, the the revelation that Morgause was involved in whatever William was planning made Merlin's situation seem a little clearer. He couldn't help but wonder how many villagers knew what was really going on.

"Of course I wouldn't approve," Morgause snapped back. "You put everything we have been planning at risk! It was a foolish move!"

"And yet here we are with money to support our cause from the king's own coffer, and a dragonlord's son as you requested. Yes, it was a shame Arthur survived, but we got through it unscathed."

Morgause glared harshly at William. "One of your men was captured."

"He won't talk."

Morgause said nothing. It was evident she doubted William's words, but whatever her suspicions were, she kept them hidden and instead directed her attention to Merlin. "So you have magic. I never would have thought."

Merlin looked Morgause in the eyes but said nothing.

"I should have you killed for what you did to my sister!" Morgause hissed.

Merlin couldn't help but flinch. "Is-is she okay?"

"Do not pretend you care!"

"I never wanted to hurt her," Merlin said, not caring if Morgause believed him or not. It was the truth.

Morgause stepped forward and struck Merlin hard across the face. The blow stung, and he was certain Morgause had drawn blood with her nails. "How dare you say that! She lay dying in my arms because of you, and now I find you are one of us! You should want to see Uther dead and his kingdom destroyed just as much as the next magic user, and yet you protected him and nearly killed my sister!"

Merlin took in a few deep breaths, his face still turned to the side from the strike to his face. He didn't know what to say to her. The moment he had poisoned Morgana had plagued him every day since. Despite that he knew in his heart of hearts he had done the right thing, he kept wondering if he could have done it differently, if he somehow could have stopped the enchantment on Camelot without hurting Morgana.

However, it was no use. Merlin couldn't change what happened and he had to live with the horrified image of Morgana's face as she felt the poison overtake her. It always felt like a dagger in his heart whenever he thought of it. "I did what I had to do. I know you won't believe me, but I am sorry for what happened to Morgana."

"Yes, protecting a king who would see you dead!"

"No, I was protecting Camelot and Arthur, and I had to save Uther to do it," Merlin said, his eyes once again locked with Morgause's.

"You are a traitor to those with magic, I should have you killed this instant!" Morgause lifted her arm to start casting a spell, but William grabbed her wrist before she could utter a word of magic.

"Morgause!" William admonished as he pulled her arm down. "I hope we have not come to that point...yet."

Morgause looked like she was about to snap at William, but she hesitated. "No, you're right. What better way than to make him pay for his crimes then to have him aid in our cause."

"I will not help you." Merlin said with firm resolve.

"Oh you will help us, you don't have a choice in the matter." William knelt down beside Merlin and grabbed Merlin by the chin. "Tell me, boy, how long can you hold out when you're being tortured?"

Fear gripped Merlin's body as he looked into William's eyes. "Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted to protect magic users!"

"I do, but not you," William replied.

"Why? I have done nothing to you!" Merlin felt his body shake as he faced William, unable to hold back the emotion he felt in those words.

"Your father brought Uther's men to Ealdor," William said, his voice dangerously low. "Your father caused my pregnant wife to be discovered and burned at the stake."

Merlin shuddered involuntarily as he felt the pain and hate from William's words. He almost understood the rage that existed within this man to cause him to do what he was doing now...almost. In truth, Merlin felt numb. He had lost his father only a few short months ago, and now he was being held accountable for his father's actions. "I had nothing to do with that," Merlin managed to say, though he knew it would fall on deaf ears.

"No, but you survived where my wife and unborn child didn't. Balinor's son got to live at the cost of others." William let go of Merlin's chin and stood up. "Now you'll pay for his crimes."

William looked over at Morgause, who had remained silent during the exchange. She took this as her cue to speak. "We know the last dragon that attacked Camelot a few months ago is not dead, reports among certain sources of mine confirm this fact. At first I assumed Prince Arthur had wounded it enough to leave, but now knowing your true identity, I take it you sent him away."

Morgause waited a moment for a response, but Merlin saw no need to confirm this. As it was, he was still in shock from William's revelation.

"Obviously you did," Morgause said when Merlin did not speak. "As you no doubt have figured out, I have a new plan to strike back at Camelot and would very much like the aid of this magnificent beast, but only a dragonlord can call him back and control him."

"Which is where I come in," William added, lacking the emotion he had just moments ago. It was as if he had not said those things to Merlin and everything was perfectly fine. "I have known Morgause for many years. She has helped many magic users find safe haven in our village. When she mentioned her desire to utilize the dragon for a new assault on Camelot, I remembered your father and that the gift of the dragonlord is passed from father to son."

"So that's why you wanted to gain my trust," Merlin responded, his voice low.

"Indeed, though I never imagined your loyalty to the prince would be so strong. Minor inconvenience, though."

"Indeed," Morgause interjected. "We will have the power of the Great Dragon on our side, and we will see Camelot in ruins, whether you want to help us or not."

The collar on Merlin's neck had never felt so heavy. Camelot was in danger, and here he was helpless and in the hands of the enemy.

"It's just a shame for you that we must resort to these rather brutal methods." William crossed him arms once more. "We could cast an enchantment on you, but that might affect your dragonlord abilities. Better not risk it."

"Besides, with what you did to my sister, I will rather enjoy this." Morgause smiled, and Merlin felt his blood run cold as realized what was about to come next.

xxx

Hours later Merlin laid in the tent, barely able to move. They had cruelly beaten him with a mixture of brute force and Morgause's magic. The pain had gone to unbearable levels and Merlin could only wonder how he survived.

However, that was the point. He was supposed to survive until they did it again.

Merlin coughed weakly, which caused jolts of pain in his torso. William had kicked him roughly in the chest so many times that he was certain he must have a broken rib or two.

Merlin thought he might cry, but he honestly didn't have any energy left in him to do even that much. It wasn't until dawn when someone entered the tent. He was honestly surprised to see Margareta standing there with a tray of what must be food for him and a look of horror on her face.

Without a word she placed the tray down and knelt beside him. Merlin said nothing, and just watched her with his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered before using the unlocking spell to remove the manacles.

Merlin ignored her apology, though he was grateful for that small courtesy as he brought his hands forward to look at them. The wrists were bloody and bruised, though he barely felt it what with all the other parts of his body in so much pain.

"I brought you some food, and water to wash up," Margareta said.

"Thank you," Merlin croaked. He forced himself into a sitting position, hissing at the pain it caused.

Margareta shuddered as she fought back tears. "I-I had no idea my father would do this."

Merlin said nothing. He had told her this was what would happen, but she refused to listen. At this moment, however, it was useless to point it out. He doubted Margareta could have stopped this whether she knew or not.

Merlin reached for the food, but pulled back in agony. He definitely had a broken or cracked rib.

Margareta looked horrified, and this time a tear did spill down her cheek. "Please, let me help. I know some healing spells." Margareta reached forward to touch him, but Merlin flinched.

"I'm sorry," Margareta says as she pulled her hand back. "I should have..." She was at a loss for words, and Merlin didn't blame her.

"No, it's okay," Merlin finally managed to say. "Anything you can do to help...would be great."

Margareta nodded slowly before moving closer to him. She placed her hand on his chest with his permission and began speaking various healing spells. Some seemed to help, while others seemed to do nothing at all. Regardless, when she was done he did feel better and suspected she had actually managed to heal his ribs, which was a huge relief. However, he still felt sore and weak; she couldn't heal every bruise and some of the pain was left over from traces of magic that Morgause had cast on him. Margareta couldn't heal that.

"Thank you," Merlin whispered.

"You still have some blood," Margareta said as she grabbed the wash bowl and squeezed liquid from the cloth. "Mind if I?"

Merlin nodded is head and allowed Margareta to wipe the blood from his face.

When she was done, she placed the bowl down and regarded Merlin silently. He didn't know what to say, so he just sat there staring at the ground.

"You were right," Margareta said after a moment of silence. "I still can't believe my father would resort to methods like these."

Merlin said nothing. If she wanted him to make her feel better about what her father had done, he was not going to. Nor was he going to make it any worse.

"I heard the screams last night," Margareta said, looking anywhere but Merlin's face. "I wanted to stop it, but my father's men wouldn't let me. When they were done my father said I was to leave you until the morning."

"He wants me to suffer," Merlin said solemnly.

Margareta's breath hitched, and more tears fell from her eyes. "Merlin, please, whatever it is they want, give it to them. I cannot bear to see you suffer like this!"

"You think I want to suffer like this?" Merlin replied angrily. He knew Margareta spoke sincerely, but he couldn't worry about her feelings, not now. "They want to break me, Margareta, because I've already proven I can't be trusted. At this point it doesn't matter what I say. If you really don't want to see me suffer, then help me!"

"How?"

"Remove the collar," Merlin said, feeling a small bit of hope rise in his chest. "Help me escape!"

Margareta shook her head. "I can't do that, Merlin."

"Why? I have done nothing to deserve this, can't you see that?" Merlin cried, he was desperate. If Margareta didn't help him, then his situation was truly hopeless.

"I-I can't"

"Please," Merlin begged as he grabbed her arm, as if to will her into helping him.

Margareta pulled away and clambered to her feet. "I can't," she repeated before running out of the tent.

Merlin watched her go, and felt as if any last shred of hope had left with her. It didn't matter if she had left him unchained, there was no way he could escape in this condition.

Frustrated, Merlin took the bowl of soup and threw it out the tent. If all he had to look forward to from now on was torture and the possibility of endangering Camelot, then his only escape was death and one way to ensure that was not to eat.

Apparently one of the guards had seen his small tantrum and entered the tent. Merlin didn't recognize this man, but it didn't matter anyway.

"What do you think you're doing?" The man demanded.

"Tell William I will starve myself to death before I let them control me!" Merlin cried, throwing the manacles at the guard. He knew it was a stupid move, but he was beyond reason at this point, beyond hope.

The manacles didn't even hit the guard, but he was angered by Merlin's action anyway and delivered a swift kick to his face. Merlin fell back onto the floor, too dazed to do anything else.

The guard grabbed the chains and attached one to the pole and the other Merlin's hand. "I'll tell William what you said, and believe me boy, he won't be happy,"

Merlin said nothing and the guard kicked him once more in the stomach before leaving him there on the floor, writhing in pain.

xxx

"So how exactly do you plan to rescue you your servant?" Alfred asked as he rode with Arthur deeper into the forest and away from Camelot.

Arthur honestly wasn't sure. He had a half formed plan in his head that he knew was practically suicidal. When he had first approached Gaius about rescuing Merlin, the man was skeptical to say the least. First about Arthur being genuine in wanting to save Merlin, and then about Arthur's ability to pull off such a feat given his current condition and lack of support on this undertaking.

"I want Merlin back," Gaius had said once he had accepted that Arthur was in fact serious about getting Merlin. "But not at the cost of your own life."

Arthur refused to believe that Merlin was beyond hope and somehow managed to get Gaius on board. He guessed that Gaius knew he was going to do this with or without his help, so the old physician must have preferred the prince had his help.

Convincing his father to belay the torture of the prisoner for information was easy enough. Arthur simply requested that his father hold off until he was well enough to identify the man. Uther willingly complied, being none the wiser about Arthur's visit the day before. His knights understood discretion, and that was something to be thankful for.

The second task Arthur had was to get well as soon as possible, while not letting his father know how well he was getting. Gaius used all the tricks of his trade and even some magical ones to heal his wound.

Arthur had felt a twinge of uneasiness when Gaius cast the first spell, but was amazed when he felt the soreness in his shoulder lessen.

He was surprised, to be honest, not only at himself for asking Gaius to use the magic that he suspected the old physician was capable of, but that he had convinced Gaius to use the magic he had abandoned over twenty years ago at such great risk to himself. Then again, he knew how much the man loved Merlin like a son, so it wasn't really surprising at all.

The next task involved freeing the prisoner. On this, he could not rely on his knights, they would be honour bound to tell his father. He was, however, able to rely on Guinevere. He hated needing her help like this, but she provided the perfect distraction for when he snuck Alfred out of jail.

With all these tasks complete, they were well on their way to the bandit's village, but two questions remained. How exactly would he free Merlin, and how did he know he could trust Alfred? Arthur sighed heavily. He was putting a lot on the line to trust one bandit to save a sorcerer.

"I have a plan," Arthur replied to Alfred as their horses trotted through the woods. "Don't know that I should tell you." Though, in all honesty, he didn't have much of a plan, but he figured he shouldn't be open about that.

It was a wet and miserable day, though the rain did make the air feel a little cooler. Gaius and Guinevere would cover for Arthur as long as they could, though he had told them not to risk more than they had to so that he could have a headstart. He knew if he got himself killed, they may very well be blamed, but Arthur was confident that he would survive. The real question was what would he tell his father when he got back.

"Fair enough," Alfred said, seemingly satisfied with that answer till he spoke up again a moment later. "You know it's not that I'm not appreciative of you getting me out of your prison, but you are taking a leap of faith here."

Arthur sighed. This was a conversation that was long overdue, they both knew it. "I have kept you from being forcefully interrogated and removed you from prison, that must show you the value of my word."

"Indeed, I believe you when you say this about Merlin and not revenge on my village," Alfred replied as he brought his horse to a stop and looked around at his surroundings.

Arthur brought his horse to a stop as well. "Is that why you're helping me?" Arthur asked as a thought occurred to him. "This isn't just about you escaping the executioner's block."

Alfred laughed. "No. While I do value my neck, it is in my best interest to see this through."

"How?"

"Your father deserves to pay for what he has done to magic users, of that I have no doubt." Alfred then pulled his reigns, making his horse turn and face Arthur's. "But killing leads to more killing, and if the future king is willing to put his neck on the line to help one magic user, then I have to hope that future king would remove the ban on magic. That outcome is best for all, and more important than vengeance."

Arthur regarded the man with shock. He had not even considered what implications this foolhardy mission had on the future of Camelot. Would he remove the ban on magic? He had lived his life believing it was evil, yet here he was trying to rescue a magic user. Maybe he would remove the ban, it was certainly something to think about, but that could wait. For now he had to focus on the task at hand.

"Obviously, I plan to sneak into the village and get Merlin out," Arthur said, knowing in that moment he really could trust this man, despite the fact that he had tried to kill him but a week before. Desperation made strange bedfellows, that was for sure. "However, it would be easier if I had help and knew where to look."

Alfred offered his hand to Arthur. "I will help you get Merlin out. You have my word"

"Thank you," Arthur replied honestly and accepted Alfred's hand. "And even though I've said this before, you have my word that no harm will come to your village."

Alfred nodded and then pointed to his right. "That way." Alfred kicked his horse into a gallop, and Arthur quickly followed.

It was late afternoon when they reached a large clearing in the forest. Arthur immediately recognized this as the place where the village had been. There was barely any sign that a small but lively village had been here, except the lack of any significant vegetation where the tents and cabins must have been. Arthur was nothing short of amazed that they had been able to pack up and leave so effectively.

Arthur looked to Alfred and saw that the man had dismounted and was now looking around. He bent down and picked up the dirt, letting it fall through his fingers as he looked for signs only he would see.

"So, do you know where they went?" Arthur asked impatiently. They had taken almost all day just to get to the old village, and he already knew they would be camping overnight at some point, but he wanted to push on as long as he could.

Alfred ignored Arthur's question and continued looking around for clues. Ten minutes later he seemed satisfied and returned to his horse. "I know where they went. We can ride a littler further before making camp. With an early start, and some hard riding, we'll make it there by midday."

"You're sure about this?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "You know all this from looking at some dirt?"

Alfred smiled. "We have our ways, and you never demanded I tell you how I will find my village."

"True enough," Arthur sighed and rubbed his shoulder. The wound was almost completely healed, but it still ached and riding all day certainly didn't help. "Lead the way."

Alfred clicked his tongue at the horse and took a northeast heading. Arthur followed wordlessly.

Two hours later night was upon them. They had made good distance by pushing their horses as fast as they could, but now the horses were exhausted and in dire need of some rest. Arthur was just grateful that the rain had let up an hour ago.

"Hopefully we're not overworking them," Alfred commented as he tied his horse's reigns on a low hanging tree branch.

"These horses are from Camelot's finest stock. They can handle it," Arthur replied as he did the same with his horse. They had found the perfect place to camp with a small stream nearby. The horses drank gratefully before they began grazing the nearby vegetation.

"Of course." Alfred said nothing further as he began gathering up wood for a small campfire.

Arthur took the time to unpack their provisions. He had managed to pack two sleeping rolls and food for at least three days. It was mostly bread, hard cheese, and dried salty pork with a few pieces of fruit thrown in. He also had his sword and a couple of daggers, while he had made sure Alfred had no weapons of the kind. It may not have been wise to trust Alfred as much as he did, but he wasn't a complete idiot.

"_Eoch bora," _Alfred said setting the small campfire ablaze.

Arthur's eyes widened as he drew his sword on Alfred. "You never said you have magic!"

Alfred threw his hands up and stepped back in surprise. "Whoa, I thought we were at the point of you accepting magic users?"

Arthur kept his sword trained on the man. "I trust magic users who I know haven't tried to kill me."

"Okay, okay," Alfred said, taking a deep breath as he thought of what to say. "I don't have that much magic. All I can do is simple spells, like lighting a campfire. I can't fight with magic, I swear."

"Why didn't you tell me you could do this much?" Arthur demanded.

"I didn't want to be executed for magic back at Camelot, and I didn't remember just now. It's habit for me to start a fire this way!" Alfred replied.

Arthur regarded the man for moment, as he decided whether he believed Alfred or not. "Damnit," Arthur said as he sheathed his sword. How was he supposed to trust Merlin if he drew his sword at every whispered word of magic? If he was to truly believe magic users were not all evil, he had to give them the benefit of the doubt. "I'm sorry, I just..." Arthur honestly didn't know what to say.

Alfred let his hands sink to his sides. "It's alright, we both have a long way to go before we can ever completely trust each other."

Arthur nodded, deciding it was best to leave it at that. Arthur picked up the bag of food he had dropped in his rush to draw his sword and placed the food on a large log and offered some to Alfred. "Eat, then get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."

Alfred wisely chose to say nothing and took the offered food.

xxx

Arthur woke just as the morning sun started to peek through the treetops. He felt a wave of unease as he lay there on the ground, half remembered dreams plagued his thoughts. It took almost an entire minute before Arthur remembered where he was and he sat up quickly looking around for Alfred.

The bandit was nowhere to be seen, and Arthur was cursing himself for a fool when seconds later he emerged from the trees. "Good, you're up, I was going to rouse you if you weren't awake when I got back."

"Where did you go?" Arthur asked as he began packing up his bedroll.

"I was taking a piss," Alfred replied, trying to sound friendly though he was clearly annoyed.

Arthur rubbled his forehead gently. "Yeah, right. Sorry." Arthur stood up and packed his bedroll before refreshing his waterskin from the nearby stream.

They ate a small breakfast of bread and cheese before they mounted their horses and began the journey once more. Unlike yesterday, they traveled entirely in silence and pushed their horses as fast they could go. They only stopped once to let the horses have a drink and to eat a small snack themselves. They didn't even bother to dismount.

A few minutes later they were back on their way, following a trail that Arthur couldn't figure out, but Alfred was certain was there.

When the sun was high in the sky, Alfred stopped and put his arm out, signalling Arthur to stop as well. He looked around as if listening for a sound, though Arthur couldn't hear a thing. "We're close. We should tie off the horses and proceed on foot."

Arthur nodded in agreement and found a decent spot with plenty of grass for the horses to nibble at. Once they were secured to a tree, Arthur made sure his sword was secure and then turned to Alfred.

"You really should stay here and let me scope out the village," Alfred said.

"Not going to happen," Arthur replied as he offered each horse a slightly overripe apple.

"Fine, but you have to be quiet." Alfred replied, and Arthur couldn't help but notice that he was keeping his voice low. "The villagers will have guards posted around their perimeter from here on in. We have to avoid them if we're to get close."

Arthur was about to reply that he knew how to remain stealthy when he heard something in the distance that immediately grabbed his attention. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Alfred asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Arthur wasn't sure, he just knew it didn't sound like a bird or the trees. It didn't seem like it might be a guard either. In fact, it sounded a lot like a young girl, crying.

Arthur drew his sword just to be safe and began walking towards the sound. A few paces later he found the source of noise, and it was, in fact, a young girl crying. She was sitting on a rotted tree that must have toppled over many years ago and her face was in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. They were lucky she was so distraught or she may have noticed them by now and run off to warn the gaurds.

Alfred was right behind Arthur and when he noticed the girl he gasped. "Margareta!"

That drew her attention and she stood up in surprise, quickly wiping her tears. "What do you want?" She said as her eyes kept glancing at Arthur's sword.

Arthur didn't know what to say, though he was furious with Alfred. All it took was her calling out for guards and their whole plan was ruined.

"Margareta, it's me, Alfred!" he replied stepping from behind Arthur so she could see him.

Margareta looked up and her eyes widened in recognition. "Alfred?" Though her expression quickly turned to horror as she recognize the prince. "What are you doing with him! Have you betrayed us?"

"No, no," Alfred said as he moved closer to the young girl. "Prince Arthur set me free, he just wants his serving boy back. There are no knights, it's is just us."

Arthur fully expected the girl to run off or get angry, instead Margareta covered her mouth in surprise as more tears fell from her eyes. "Oh thank god!" she said as she ran over to Alfred and threw her arms around him in a desperate embrace. "I thought you were dead! This week has just been the worst, I can't even begin to tell you!"

Arthur stood there in silence unsure of what to say or do, though he kept his sword drawn. He recognized her as the girl who had placed some sort of magic binding collar on Merlin when they had been captured a couple weeks back. He knew she had magic, and he knew she must be strong. He wasn't going to take any chances.

Alfred returned her embrace, though he pulled back quickly and held her by the shoulders. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"My father, he isn't the man I thought he was," Margareta replied, clearly trying to keep her voice steady. "He has done horrible things since we moved the village. I didn't know. I didn't know."

"Shh, Margareta," Alfred said as he pushed her hair away from her eyes, "You can tell me. What happened?"

Margareta took a deep breath as she desperately tried to calm herself. "Merlin tried to escape after Prince Arthur-" Margareta glanced quickly at Arthur, clearly still aware that he was there and with a sword in hand "-Was ransomed. He didn't get far though, and father was angry. I thought he might just punish him by keeping him locked up for a day but then that woman showed up and they've been torturing him every day since."

Arthur felt his stomach sink as he listened to the young girls words. Not only had Merlin tried to escape, but he had been tortured. The guilt overwhelmed him as he grabbed Alfred angrily and forced him to let go of Margareta. "Torture? You never said anything about that!" he hissed as quietly as he could.

"I didn't know!" Alfred replied, clearly shocked and just as surprised at Arthur. "I've been away for a week in your prison, how am I supposed to known what is going on?"

"Prince Arthur, please!" Margareta cried, looking horrified at the sudden turn of events. "No one in our village knew my father would do this. It's that woman, Morgause!"

Arthur let go of Alfred and turned to Margareta. "Morgause is here?"

"She was here earlier today, but she has left already," Margareta explained. "She comes around every other day to check on Merlin. She's planning something big, and Merlin's a part of it, I don't know why. Some of the villagers seem to be in on it and are keeping anyone from getting near Merlin. However, the rest of villagers don't know what's going on and they're terribly upset, but they're too afraid to cross her and my father. I don't know what to do."

"Will you help us?" Alfred asked.

Margareta looked uncertain. "What exactly are you planning?"

"We're came here to get Merlin out of here, but if I can find out what Morgause is planning and stop her too, then I will," Arthur said, more determined than ever to see this journey through. "If you really are concerned for Merlin, then we could use any help we can get."

Margareta looked uncertain. "I want to help, but...I don't know..." Her voice trailed off.

"Margareta, I wouldn't have brought Arthur here if I didn't believe he was only here to get his servant back. We won't hurt anyone, we just want to free Merlin."

"He speaks the truth," Arthur added when Margareta locked eyes with him.

A look of relief spread across the young girl's face as she nodded quickly. "Then yes. Yes, I will help."

* * *

A/N - I was uncertain if I would involve torture in this fic, I kind of keep a few ideas bouncing about in my head until I actually write it down and see what course of action makes most sense. Hopefully this chapter isn't upsetting to any readers, I did keep it purposely vague given that I didn't warn about it from the beginning. Also, I had been having a bit of trouble figuring out Alfred's motivations and character, suffice to say, episode 11 of season 3 helped me figure some things out.

I also planned to have Morgause a part of this fic from the beginning, and you can imagine I was pleasantly surprised she was planning to attack Camelot in the season 3 opener. It definitely helped me work some kinks out of the storyline because I was able to draw some things from this season.

Also, I the whole having OC's with the same first letter of Merlin and Arthur (Margareta and Alfred) was completely unintentional, I swear! I can't tell you how many times I accidentally used Alfred or Arthur when I mean the other one. Next time I'll be more careful when naming OC's.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Arthur knew their plan to rescue Merlin had to be simple and quick. They couldn't afford to wait for Morgause to return; they had to act immediately. With only the three of them they had extremely limited options, and as a result decided to rely on a diversion using Alfred while Arthur snuck in with Margareta's help.

Arthur was putting his complete trust in these people, since without their help he probably would have never found the village, known where Merlin was being kept, or be able to remove the binding collar that blocked his magic. He was also counting on Alfred keeping most of the village distracted long enough for them to get away. Arthur knew it was a tall order, but he was determined to see it through. _I owe Merlin that much_, Arthur thought as he waited with Margareta at the village border, hidden by a moss covered boulder.

They had all agreed to wait until the sun set; they needed night to be on their side. In that time, Margareta described the camp layout and where to expect watchmen to be posted. Then, once the sun set, they found a place to wait and watch as Alfred made his move.

"I never said thank you," Arthur suddenly whispered as he realized all that Margareta was putting on the line by betraying her father.

Margareta turned to look at the prince, surprise evident on her face. "I'm not doing this for you, you know."

Arthur coughed nervously at the slight rebuke. "Still, you have my thanks."

"Well I guess that's something," Margareta muttered as she peered behind the boulder. "Be quiet though, Alfred will be making his appearance at any moment."

Arthur nodded and remained silent as the watched Alfred approach the village. Margareta and Arthur had scoped out a spot a little ways back where they could look for Alfred's diversion and then make quick progress to Merlin's tent based on Margareta's information. With everything in place, Alfred was now approaching the village without concern for being seen by the one of watchmen.

Arthur watched as Alfred seemed to hesitate, then turned to his left. Another bandit approached and at first it looked like there would be a confrontation, but then the two embraced. He watched as Alfred spoke to the bandit, and though he was unable to hear the words, he knew Alfred was regaling the bandit with a false story of his escape from the Camelot dungeons. The man accepted his story as he nodded and patted Alfred on the back.

Soon enough, the two were walking towards the village. As they had hoped, the bandit was so happy to see his friend that he did not suspect anything was amiss.

"Alright, let's go," Margareta said as she started making her way to the village, and was careful to stay a good twenty paces back from Alfred and the guard.

Once they reached the village's border, the guard announced Alfred's arrival, drawing the villagers' attention with questions of how he had escaped. At that point Margareta tugged at Arthur's leather vest. "This way."

Margareta ducked quickly behind one of the tents, peeked out, and then pulled Arthur over to another one. "See that man over there by the small brown tent?"

Arthur looked where Margareta was pointing and noticed the large man standing a few tents from where they were. He was looking over to where Alfred was engaging the other villagers, but he did not moved. "Yes, is that where they're keeping Merlin?"

"Yes, and the guard won't leave. Not even for Alfred," Margareta said, as she looked around for signs of anyone else in their vicinity.

"Well, guess I'll have to take him out," Arthur said as he reached for the hilt of his sword.

"What are you doing?" Margareta whispered urgently as she grabbed Arthur's arm, preventing him from drawing his sword. "You will be seen."

"Then what do you suggest?"

Margareta rolled her eyes at Arthur and then raised her arm towards the guard. "_Swefecung_."

The guard seemed to sway on his feet for a few moments before toppling to the ground. A moment later a loud snore erupted from the sleeping man.

"Well," Arthur said, trying to pretend this display of magic did not bother him. "That's another way to do it."

"Not everything has to be brute force," Margareta replied, her tone clearly admonishing. "This way, no one gets hurt and you don't risk alerting everyone. Come on now, we haven't much time."

Arthur swallowed his pride and followed the young girl over to the tent. He had to admit, in this case magic was the better weapon, and it's application was anything but evil. In fact, it saved Arthur from having to kill a man, which was not something he ever enjoyed.

Arthur took a deep breath and pushed his thoughts on magic aside. He had to focus on Merlin and what he was about to find. Margareta had said he was being tortured, he could only imagine what his servant looked like now and none of his mental images were good.

Margareta carefully stepped over the sleeping guard and pushed the tent flap open. Arthur quickly followed.

A terrible wave of guilt fell over Arthur as he looked down at his servant. There was barely any light in the tent, but Arthur could see Merlin was unconscious, curled into a ball with one of his bloody wrists chained to a poll in the center. With a closer look, Arthur could see his face was extremely pale and bruised, as well as other parts of his skin where his bloodstained shirt had been ripped or sliced. He wore no boots or jacket, and appeared to be shivering in his sleep.

"Merlin," Margareta whispered as she touched his shoulder gently.

"No!" Merlin cried as he jolted awake and immediately moved away from her touch.

"Shh, Merlin, it's me, Margareta," she said as she held up both he hands to show she was unarmed and had no intention of harming him.

"Margareta?" Merlin gasped, sounding relieved.

"Yes, we're going to get you out of here."

At the mention of "we" Merlin looked around and his eyes fell on Arthur. Arthur wasn't sure if Merlin didn't recognize him, or didn't even believe he was there, because he simply blinked a few times and said nothing.

"It's me, Merlin," Arthur said, leaning down to allow Merlin to get a better look in the dim light. "We're going to get you out, but we have to be quick. Can you stand?"

"Arthur!" Merlin's voice shook as he finally accepted Arthur was really there and pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Yes...yes I can stand, I think."

"Good, we have to hurry!" Margareta said. "Merlin let me see your wrist."

Merlin lifted his chained hand and Margareta placed her hand on it and whispered, "_Unlúcan!" _The manacle fell off his wrist and without waiting for Merlin to give her permission, Margareta placed her hands on his collar and whispered more words of magic. The collar came off quickly as well and she tossed it aside as if it burned.

With Merlin's bonds removed, he seemed more lively though he still struggled to stand. Arthur immediately went to his side and let Merlin put all his weight on him. "It's alright, I've got you."

Margareta quickly peered outside the tent flap. She seemed to be satisfied that no one was around and motioned to Arthur and Merlin to follow. Arthur made sure he had a firm hold on his servant before following Margareta out, careful to keep low.

"I never thought you'd come," Merlin whispered to Arthur as they ducked behind one of the tents.

"Well then, I guess you don't know me as well as you thought," Arthur replied, however he kept his attention on Margareta as they continued moving towards the edge of the village.

"Thank you," Merlin said and Arthur could hear the overwhelming gratitude in his voice. It only made Arthur feel more guilty. Not too long ago he would have been content leaving Merlin to these people, luckily Gaius had knocked some sense into him.

"Don't thank me yet, we still have to get away." Arthur adjusted his hold on Merlin, shifting more weight onto his shoulder. The prince was shocked at how light his servant felt. Merlin was very thin to begin with, but no doubt he had been half starved in his captivity and it showed.

"Shh!" Margareta scolded, but her reprimand came too late. Suddenly half a dozen men came out from the trees before them, blocking their way into the woods. William was among them.

"Margareta, I cannot even begin to say how disappointed I am with you," William said as he shook his head with disdain. He seemed at ease and not at all concerned that Arthur had returned to take Merlin back.

"The feeling is mutual, father," Margareta replied, keeping a strong stance. Arthur could only imagine how frightened she must be, but she didn't back down.

"We'll discuss this later," William said before looking over at Arthur and Merlin. "Couldn't stay away long, could you, my brave prince?" William's tone was nothing short of mocking.

"What can I say, you were so accommodating the last time." Arthur could feel Merlin's body shaking in fear, and if this was any other time, Arthur might be annoyed at Merlin's cowardice. However, he knew Merlin had been tortured by this man, which only made Arthur feel more protective.

"Did you really think this plan would work?" William gestured to the men around him. "Obviously you are here alone or you wouldn't have attempted something so idiotic. Did you think we wouldn't see you? Did you think we wouldn't question Alfred's sudden escape from Camelot's dungeons?"

Arthur shrugged. "Worth a try."

"Well, you must admit, you are outnumbered." William then looked to his daughter. "You know Oswald is better at you with combat magic, please don't even try daughter, I do not want to see you hurt."

Margareta said nothing, but continued glaring at her father.

Arthur, however, immediately withdrew his glove and tossed it to the ground at William's feet. William was right, they had always been outnumbered, but if he could level the playing field then there was a slim chance they might actually make it out alive. "Don't hide behind your men, William, and face me like a man."

William looked at the glove by his feet and laughed incredulously. "You cannot be serious, I am not one of your knights."

"But are you a man of honor?" Arthur goaded, hoping to play on William's sense of pride. "You can beat me when you have half a dozen men at your back, that I will not contest, but what about one on one? Do you think you can take me in a duel to the death?"

"Arthur, don't," Merlin whispered, his voice only loud enough for Arthur to hear. Arthur ignored Merlin's words and kept his eyes locked on William.

"I gain nothing by this foolish challenge," William replied.

"I've faced many a man in these challenges, and I have not lost yet. Do you think you can be the one to finally best me? What do you say? Winner gets Merlin."

"Arthur!" Merlin gasped, obviously not happy at being offered up like some prized maiden in a tourney.

"You forget yourself, I already have Merlin."

"But then it's not interesting, is it?"

William laughed before he bent over and picked up the leather glove. "If you so desperately want to die by my hands, Prince Arthur, who am I to deny you? Besides, it will certainly be entertaining for my men." William gestured to the bandits around him. "Take them away, we'll fight tomorrow at midday."

xxx

"You're an idiot," Merlin said soberly as he sat chained and collared once again inside the tent that had been his prison for the past week. His back was facing Arthur, as the prince had been chained on the opposite side of the pole so that the two were back to back. "You should never have come back for me."

In truth, Merlin had wished beyond hope during his constant torment that Arthur would come back for him. However, he never thought it would actually happen. What started out as simple joy at seeing the prince coming back for him was now a serious reality with dangerous results. He had given up his freedom, and ultimately suffered through agonizing torture to try and save Arthur and now it seemed it was all for naught. Seeing Arthur, having him come rescue him, only to have it end in disaster felt like some cruel joke. Hope had been dangled in front of him only to be painfully taken away.

Merlin felt Arthur let out a long sigh. "Obviously I didn't mean to get caught."

"You actually thought you could come here by yourself and get me out?" Merlin couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. He was hurt and confused. Arthur had told him he never want to speak to him again, and now here he was putting his life on the line to rescue him. Which, yes, he had wanted, but what did this mean for Arthur's view on magic? Merlin had no clue, and there was a niggling thought that maybe he wanted to save Merlin so he could be executed at Camelot. Yet, nothing in Arthur's tone suggested he was still angry, so the prince had to have come to accept his magic somehow.

"It was the only choice I had," Arthur replied, his voice solemn.

Merlin was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. He had so many questions and so many things he wanted to know now that they were alone and able to talk about what had happened these past two weeks. "What changed your mind...about me?" Merlin eventually asked.

"Gaius, actually."

"Gaius?" Hearing his mentor's name felt like a stab to the gut. Merlin had tried to not think too much of the cranky old physician, he didn't want to imagine what Gaius must be going through with his absence.

"Yes." Arthur sighed, and shifted slightly against the pole. "We had an argument, believe it or not, about you. He said some things that made me think, and so I confronted a bandit we had captured and asked him some questions. I knew then that you had been coerced to stay to try and save me, even though I had all but cast you aside. You remained loyal, despite having every reason to not to and in that moment I realize it was I who had betrayed you, not the other way around."

Merlin listened to Arthur's words and felt overcome with emotion. Arthur was rarely ever this honest with him, and to hear him open up and to actually admit he was wrong was nothing short of unbelievable. "You...you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive," Arthur replied, and Merlin heard the sincerity in his words. "It is I who should ask for forgiveness."

Merlin closed his eyes, letting the moment wash over him. "I would forgive you, but your escape plan was terrible, you're going to have to do better." Merlin could feel himself falling into that old camaraderie, and it felt good. He still felt incredibly weak, and every time he moved his body cried out in agony, but it didn't matter. Arthur was here, he didn't hate him, and somehow his pain felt lessened.

"I admit, it wasn't the best of plans, but there's plan B."

"You have a plan B?"

"Weren't you listening, Merlin?" Arthur scolded in that one tone he always used when he thought Merlin was being an idiot. "I'm going to fight William for you."

Merlin raised his eyebrow in confusion, not that Arthur could see it. "You honestly think William's men will let us go if you kill him tomorrow?"

"Of course I do. In battle you want to take out the leader, because then the troops won't know what to do."

"But what if they decide to kill you because you killed their leader?"

"Merlin!"

"What? It's a valid question! Besides, this isn't a battle, and we don't have any soldiers on our side!"

"No, we don't," Arthur replied, and Merlin could almost feel Arthur's uncertainty in those words.

"Arthur, you shouldn't have come," Merlin whispered, and a feeling of immense guilt washed over him.

"What's done is done, Merlin."

A silence fell between them, and Merlin could hear the villager's bustling about outside. He wondered how many of them approved of what William was doing. When they were torturing him, he could think little else but the pain, but when it was over his voice always felt raw from screaming. They had to hear it. Did it bother them? Where they just as depraved as William and Morgause?

As if he was reading Merlin's thoughts, Arthur broke the silence. "Margareta told me what they did to you."

Merlin didn't respond, he had no idea what to say. He certainly didn't want to talk about what William and Morgause had done to him, least of all with Arthur.

"Why did they do this to?" Arthur asked, pressing the issue. "What could they possibly gain?"

"There's a lot you still don't know about me," Merlin managed to say, though he felt his throat constricting as he spoke.

"Like what?"

Merlin took a deep breath. "Remember Balinor?"

"Yes..."

Merlin knew he was probably testing the limits of Arthur's tolerance with the whole magic issue, but he had to be honest. It was the only way Arthur would continue to accept him. "He was my father."

Arthur was silent, and Merlin could almost feel him thinking this revelation out. "What does this have to do with William and Morgause?" Arthur eventually asked, though Merlin could hear he was tight lipped and obviously angry at having such a secret kept from him.

"The dragonlord's ability is passed from father to son," Merlin said, knowing that would be enough information for Arthur to fill in the rest.

"Wait...that means...you...you killed the dragon?" Arthur was practically yelling.

"I sent it away," Merlin admitted, keeping his voice calm. "Morgause and William want me to harness the dragon's power in a new assault on Camelot, but they need me. I refused."

"How do you know the dragon won't just come back on it's own?" Arthur asked.

"Because I told it not to."

"And that's it?"

"That's it."

Arthur sighed heavily. "What else have you been keeping from me?"

Merlin immediately thought of Morgana and realized that was the one thing he absolutely could not tell Arthur. "Lot's of things, Arthur. I have to keep a secret from you every time I use magic. And no, I'm not going to tell you about all of them because I was tortured to keep your kingdom safe, so I think I'm a little entitled!"

"Alright," Arthur said, his voice low. "I trust you."

Merlin closed his eyes, letting the words sink in. "You should rest, you don't want to be tired for your fight."

"How am I going to rest like this?" That semi-annoyed tone was back, and Merlin couldn't help but think that if this was it, and death was what awaited either of them tomorrow, that he was glad to hear Arthur's voice one last time.

"You'll manage," Merlin whispered.

The both fell into a comfortable silence. Merlin could feel Arthur shifting against his back, attempting to get comfortable. He thought Arthur might speak again, but he didn't and soon enough Arthur's breath evened out. He was asleep.

Merlin smiled lightly before falling into a restless sleep himself.

xxx

It was just before noon when William's men came and removed them from the tent. Arthur had managed to get some sleep, though it wasn't ideal for the fight he was facing. He had actually been awake all morning while Merlin lightly dozed.

Arthur had taken the time to reflect on how utterly screwed they where. He had known it was a bad idea to come, but he never imagine he would be recaptured. Now all he had was this fight, and it was to be done on an empty stomach with a terrible night's rest. He didn't expect William to make sure his opponent was prepared. Arthur suspected he wanted any advantage he could get.

Arthur was a little surprised when the bandits unchained Merlin as well, but then his stomach dropped. Of course William wanted Merlin to watch, because watching Arthur die would only be another form of torture for the young warlock. No doubt, William assumed that with the prince dead, Merlin would be more likely to do as he commanded.

It made Arthur sick to his stomach as he thought of all Merlin had been through. He had to win this, not just for himself, but to save Merlin from any further torment.

Arthur gave little resistance as he was prodded to an open area where every villager was gathered. The bodies formed a ring and in the center stood William with a sword in his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Merlin was pulled to side and held by one of the bandits where he would be able to watch the fight. Arthur glanced around a little more and found Margareta amongst the crowd, and couldn't help but notice the large bruise on her cheek. Alfred was standing next to her, looking similarly disciplined.

"Are you ready, my prince?" William asked once Arthur was shoved into the center of the man-made ring.

"Am I to fight you unarmed?" Arthur lifted his hands in question.

"Of course not, this will be a fair fight between men." William nodded to one of his bandits. He produced a crude sword and handed it to Arthur hilt first.

Arthur grasped the weapon, wishing in that moment that he had specified that he wanted to fight with his own weapon. No doubt William kept it for himself. That was the second weapon he lost to this man, he did not fancy losing a third despite its worn state.

"The rules are simple," William said, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "We fight to the death, no one interferes. You win, you leave with Merlin. I win, and I get to keep your head on a pike. Agreed?"

Arthur acknowledged William's terms with a slight tilt of his head and readied his sword. He was used to fighting these battles in full armor with his shield and most trusted sword. As it was, he had no armor, no chainmail, no shield, and a blade that had seen better days. At least his opponent was similarly armed.

"Alright then, let's begin." Unlike duels in Camelot, there was no king to signal the begin of battle, only William's say so and the eruption of cheers from the village, all in support of William.

Arthur spun his sword in a wide circle as he moved to his right, waiting to see if William would make the first move. William followed Arthur, and they remained like that, circling each other as the crowd cried in anticipation for the first blow.

William struck first, which Arthur easily deflected with his sword. He let William's weight fall forward from the blow then pushed him aside with the force of his blade. William tumbled backward and Arthur began his offensive, raining blow after blow on the bandit.

William was outmatched in that moment, doing the best he could to block himself from Arthur's attacks. However, just as Arthur was going in for a killing blow, William ducked down and struck out with his foot. Arthur reacted too late and fell flat on his back.

Arthur's head hit the ground hard, and for a moment he saw stars, but he recovered in time to see William's sword aimed at his heart. Arthur rolled to avoid the deadly thrust, and jumped back onto his feet.

William had obviously put a lot of strength into that one thrust, and was now off balance. Arthur exploited the opportunity, though he was only able to nick the older man's soldier.

A collective gasp emanated from the crowd, but William shook it off and lunged forward.

Arthur parried and pushed William back, starting a string of blocked attacks and near misses. Had Arthur been in perfect health, this fight would be easier. As it was, he was barely able to keep William at arm's length. He was growing tired quickly, and William knew it. He kept pressing that advantage until finally Arthur lost his balance in a moment of weakness and fell back. William kicked out with his foot, knocking Arthur's sword from his hand.

For one frantic moment, Arthur thought he had lost the fight, but when William raised his arm a little too far back for the killing blow, Arthur jumped at William, taking him by surprise as they both fell onto the ground. William's sword was lost in the fray, but the fight continue with legs, arms, hands, and teeth fighting each other.

Arthur barely caught the glint of steel as William pulled out a hidden dagger, and his reaction was pure instinct as he grabbed the hand and twisted it. Arthur heard, never mind felt, the bones breaking in William's wrist as he twisted the hand around so that the dagger's sharp edge was point towards William. That's when he pushed with all his remaining energy.

Slowly the dagger sank into William's gut, his body thrashing and convulsing as he tried to fight off the inevitable. It wasn't until the body lay still and the crowd became silent that Arthur knew the fight was over.

xxx

Merlin watched William and Arthur fight while he was held in place by one of William's trusted bandits, though the way the Man breathed on his neck made Merlin's skin crawl. Merlin watched the fight in misery, unsure if Arthur could pull off a win. However, he knew with cold certainty that if Arthur died, Merlin would do whatever he could to join him soon after.

Merlin held his breath when Arthur fell, certain in that moment that everything he had worked for was over, when suddenly the tables turned and they were both wrestling on the ground. After an agonizing minute of watching the two fight, a loud blood curdling scream could be heard and both men stilled. In that moment, Merlin had no idea if either of them were alive, and neither did the crowd as they waited in silence to see who would move.

Merlin's fears were assuaged when it was Arthur who stirred and pushed the lifeless William off of him.

"No!" Margareta's scream echoed in Merlin's ears as she rushed over to her father, at first not believing he was dead. Spell after spell was cast from Margareta's lips and it wasn't until her fifth or sixth spell failed that she seemed to realize it was no use and her words of magic turned into incoherent sobs.

Arthur turned to the man that was holding Merlin. "Let him go."

The guard seemed ready to refuse Arthur's request, when another bandit nodded to the guard to comply. "We must abide by the terms William set. Let the boy go." The bandit hesitated, before adding, "This ends now."

The guard released Merlin, and he immediately ran to Margareta's side. He was still incredibly weak from his brutal treatment, but watching the fight had infused him with some sort of strength and all he could think of right now was the young witch before him, morning the loss of her beloved father. "Margareta," Merlin whispered, though he had no idea what to say to her.

"I didn't want any of this to happened," Margareta said as she turned to Merlin, her cheeks red and stained from crying.

"I know," Merlin said, reaching out to hold Margareta's hand reassuringly.

Margareta gasped sharply, as if trying to prevent more tears. However, instead of crying she reached up with her free hand and whispered the words to free Merlin from his collar. "_Eac þás ealdspræc ic aheordan ðu._"

Merlin remained still as the collar unlocked and fell from his neck. Margareta's hand lingered as she met Merlin's gaze. Merlin thought she was about to speak when suddenly she pulled away and turned back to her father. "Go," she finally said. "We will abide by the terms set by my father."

Merlin nodded, feeling a deep sadness as he realized he would probably never see Margareta again.

Merlin stood and regarded Arthur, who had been silently watching the two of them. "What now, Arthur?"

"Enough blood has been shed, " Arthur replied before turning to the shocked crowd before him. "I will take my servant and leave. I will not send my knights to pursue you, though I do suggest you find a new place to live, and if you can cross the border, that might be for the best."

"How do we know you won't come after us?" One man shouted from the crowd.

"I have learned today that magic is not evil, only those who choose to use it for such purposes." Arthur paused and looked to Merlin. "I cannot change my father's law, but I now no longer believe the law that bans magic to be just. I hope we can look forward to a day when the law can be changed." Arthur paused once more and looked down at Margareta who was still holding her dead father in her arms. "Too much blood has been shed already."

The crowd murmured in agreement, and some stepped forward to talk to Margareta and help her carry her father away from the battlefield. Margareta continued mourning into the arms of one of the villagers as she was taken away from the field with her father carried gently behind her.

"You're a man of your word, Arthur Pendragon." Alfred said from behind them, with two horses saddled and ready to go. He had a black eye, and walked with a slight limp, but otherwise looked fine from the beating he had received at the hand of his own people.

Arthur nodded and offered his hand. "As are you, Alfred." They shook hands firmly before Arthur added, "Thank you for everything, though what will you do about Morgause? Surely she won't be happy with what has happened here."

"You leave that to us, she's only one and we are many. We will be fine, but you best go before she arrives or one of the men changes their mind," Alfred replied and handed the reins to Arthur. "I have to go help Margareta."

"I understand," Arthur said as he took the reins and then turned to Merlin. "Let's get out of here."

Merlin wasted no time in mounting his horse, the smaller brown mare while Arthur pulled himself onto a grey and white stallion and kicked his horse into a fast gallop.

Merlin felt a bit dizzy as he followed Arthur, though he was extremely happy and anxious to get away from the people that imprisoned and tortured him. And yet, he still was uncertain of what lay ahead. It certainly seemed like Arthur's stance on magic had changed, but what did that really mean for them when they finally made it back to Camelot?

After about an hour of hard riding, Arthur slowed his horse down to a trot and waited for Merlin's horse to catch up. "I think we can take it easy from here out."

Merlin nodded, unsure of what to say. His mind had been going over their situation, and the more he thought about it, the more Merlin was terrified of what would happen when they made it home.

"Merlin, what's wrong?" Arthur asked; Merlin's concerns were clearly evident on his face.

"I-" Merlin started, unsure of how to begin voicing his concerns.

"Merlin, after all we have been through together, you can trust me."

Merlin looked at Arthur, reading the expression on his face before nodding in agreement. "I just...what's going to happen...now that you know? What will you tell your father about coming here to get me?"

Arthur regarded Merlin carefully, clearly considering his words carefully before he finally spoke, though he looked forward to the trees as he did. "I know more than ever now that you are my friend, and I will do whatever I can to protect you, even lie to my father. You let me worry about what I'll say to him when we get back. I'll think of something. You on the other hand will go straight to Gaius to get your wounds treated and get some rest!"

"You're going to keep my secret?" Merlin asked, ignoring Arthur's words about Gaius as he was unable to believe what he had just heard Arthur say about protecting him.

"Of course, Merlin; do you think I went through all this trouble just to have you executed at home?" Arthur said with a tone of mock annoyance.

"No," Merlin replied, his voice stammering. "I just, I didn't know what to think. I've been keeping this secret for so long, I can't believe you finally know and that you're okay with it."

"You're my friend," Arthur said, his voice serious once more. "What's more, you're my servant and I've gotten used to your incompetence."

"Oh really?" Merlin said, unable to keep the smile from creeping onto his face.

"Yes, and now that I know you have magic to help, I'm going to have to increase your workload," Arthur said with a grin to match before kicking his horse off into another gallop.

Merlin's smile immediately dropped to a frown as he quickly followed, though he couldn't help but fondly think that some things hadn't changed and that was fine by him.

Fin.

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A/N - Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this fic, and thanks to Socalrose for beta reading. I do plan to write a sequel to this, though I plan to work on a couple of other projects before I begin, so it will be some time before I post anything. In any case, I wrote a one-shot for a holiday fic exchange, which I finally got around to posting here. Check my profile if you're interested.


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